High School Football Preview 2021 by The Eagle Advertising Department

FAMILY TIES

Rudder and College Stationhope to make the most of their father-son combinations as head coach

Eric Ezar, from left, and quarterback EJ Ezar will lead the Rangers, and QB Jett Huff and head coach Steve Huff will lead the Cougars this season, Page H4

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL 2021

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST25,2021 |theeagle.com|Bryan-College

Station, Texas

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Cover story ................................4

UIL

District12-6A

Bryan..........................................7

District8-5ADivisionI

College Station..........................9

District10-5ADivisionII

A&M Consolidated....................11

Rudder..................................... 14

District13-5ADivisionII

Brenham...................................15

District10-4ADivisionII

Madisonville............................. 17

District13-4ADivisionI

Navasota..................................18

District11-4ADivisionII

Caldwell....................................19

Cameron..................................20

Rockdale...................................22

District12-3A DivisionII

Anderson-Shiro....................... 24

District13-3A Division II

Franklin....................................25

Lexington.................................27

District11-2ADivisionI

Centerville...............................29

Leon......................................... 30

Normangee..............................31

District12-2ADivisionI

Hearne......................................32

District10-2ADivisionII

Bremond..................................33

District 14-2ADivisionII

Burton......................................35

Iola..........................................36

Milano......................................37

Snook......................................38

Somerville...............................39

District13-A DivisionII

(6-man)

Calvert......................................41

TAPPS

DivisionIVDistrict4

Brazos Christian......................42

6-manDivisionII District3

Allen Academy........................ 43

St.Joseph................................45

TAIAO6-man

BVCHEA...................................46

A FAMILY AFFAIR

CollegeStation’s Huffs, Rudder’s Ezars balance father-son relationships on,off football ﬁeld

For CollegeStation’sSteveand JettHuff andRudder’sEricand EJEzar, football reallydoesequal family.

The Huffs and Ezars are enteringtheirﬁnalhigh school football season togetherwith JettandEJ seniorquarterbacksattheir respective schools Theplayers have haddifferent journeys to reachthis point,butonethingisthe same for head coachesSteveHuff andEric Ezar—they’regoing to enjoy one lastridewiththeir sons.

“Your senior yearisa whole bunchoflasts,” Eric said.“It’s a littlebitdifferent,becausenow it’s going to bemeandhimbeing ourlast, so that’s alittle tougher. It’s beenagreatthree years, so it’s sadalittlebitthinkingaboutit.”

Steve said talkingwithother father-son coach-playerduos throughouthis careerhashelped himprepare forhowuniquethat bondis.

“Everybody says the samething: ‘Enjoy it.It’s fun,’”SteveHuff said. “Not everybody gets anopportunity[atthe varsitylevel].Alot ofpeopledoattheLittleLeague levelandmaybemiddle school. So you get to experiencealotof thingsthatnormallyIthinkalot of parents can’t experiencewith theirkidjustsimplybecauseof thetimespent.”

BoththeHuffsandEzars said spendingtimewith eachotheris whatthey’ll remembermostafter this year,evenmorethanthe football whichisa constantthemein theirlifeonandoff theﬁeld.The Huffsspend Saturdayswatching college football while eatingpizza rolls, andtheEzars carveouttime onSundays to watchthe Dallas

Cowboys.

Everyotherdayboththe familyduosareinpracticeorplaying games, and whenthey’re noton theﬁeld,chancesare JettorEJare talkingwiththeirdadsabout ways to improve.

“Beingthequarterback,there’s lotsofstuff Ihaveto knowand do, so it’s easy,” Jett said. “Ijust go straight to him,orifI’mthinkingabout somethingathome,I just getoutof my bedand go to theother roomand we have afull conversationaboutoneplay. So it’s deﬁnitely easy. I’mneverleft wondering,that’s forsure.”

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me[somethingand say], ‘Hey, I sawthisplay. We need to dothis.’ It’s notjustme saying,‘Hey, let’s dothis.’ He’llbelike,‘Whatif we didthis?Or tweakedthat?’”

Combined, Steve and Erichave morethan50 yearsof coaching experiencein careersthat took off well before Jett or EJ were born. Butthis yearmaybetheir mostmemorableasthey experienceaﬁnal seasonwiththeir sons astheirstartingQBs.

SIDE BY SIDE

Jettgrew upwithapermanent spotonthesidelinenext to hisdad and evencreditsthattime to helpinghimmatureasaplayer.

The Cougars’2017statetitle standsoutasoneoftheirmore specialmoments. Although Jett admits“it wasallablur”after CollegeStation won,Steve saidhaving Jettonthesidelineandthe restof his familyinthestandsmadethe daymorespecial.

Marquez Perezledthe Cougars under centerthatday, and Jett saidhelearnedhow to leada team and ownhismistakes by watching Perezand formerquarterback Cole Whittlesey.

“I rememberbeingaroundall theplayers andhowtheytreated me,”Jett said.“Growingup, you kindofthinklike,‘Oh,I’llneverbe thatold.’ ButnowthatI’mhere,I want to belikethey were to me to anotherkidthat wouldneedit.”

Jettalways knewhe wanted to play footballand joineda team in secondgrade whenthe family moved to TexasfromOklahoma. Jett saidhis parentsdidn’tpush footballonhim,but whenhe got thechance to play tackle football, he tookit.

Both fatherand sonagreethat as Jetthasmatured,their relationshipontheﬁeldhaschanged from teacher-student to moreof anequal partnership.

EJhasasimilar tactic.

“He’s reallysmartaboutstuff,” Eric said.“So sometimeshe’ll send

“A lotless yelling,” Steve said.

AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

INDEX

ABIGAIL OCHOA abigail.ochoa@theeagle.com SPECIAL TO THE EAGLE College Station head football coach SteveHuff,left, and hissonJettpose foraphotoafter one ofJett’s 7-on-7 youthtournaments. Pleasesee EZAR, PageH6

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 H5

“There comesa point where you start to trust what he’s seeing anddoing andjustletit go Every nowandthen,I’ll get alittleﬁred upabout something. Even when Iused to beallaggravatedabout something,he’dtellmetheanswer, andI’dbelike ‘OK,’ then youstart to trustthe fact thathe really did see that.”

Theduo’strust wasput to the test when Jettbecamethestarting quarterbacklast yearafterplayinginspurtsasanunderclassman. Jett saidthe twoareable to move on easily fromwinsorlosses, but therehavebeentimeswhenhaving familythere to dealwiththe tough timeshelps.

“Magnolia,I was prettyupset,” Jett saidof the Cougars’ 27-16loss to Magnoliainlast year’sdistrict opener “Mostofthetimeit’s like, ‘Goodjob,’andontothenextweek, butthatone waspretty tough, so hehad to give mealittle extrasupport.”

TheHuffswilllook to lean on each otheras College Stationattempts to get past thearea round oftheplayoffs,somethingtheCougars haven’tdoneinthree seasons. Jett saidhe hopes to experience thatchampionship momentat statewithhisdad,especiallyafter seeingLongview’s father-sonduo of John andHaynes Kingdo the samethingin2018.

“They wonalotof games together,soIlookatthat,andI’mlike, we’ve got to dothat, too,” Jett said. “We’ve got to winone together.”

IN HIS GENES

Looking atthe generationsof Ezars, some would sayEJ wasborn an athlete.

Hisdad

playedquarterbackat

Stephen F. Austin and Tarleton State. Hisgrandpa,JoelEzar, was a receivers coach formorethan30 years, andhisgreat-grandfather, JoeEzar, wasaprofessional golfer inthelate 1930s.

Withcompetitioninhisblood,EJ isunlike the restofthemen inhis familyinone regard: He’s theﬁrst to compete alongsidehis father.

Joeldidn’t seemuchofhis father duetoJoe’sbusytourschedule,and when Joel becamea father, hede-

cidedit wasbestnot to coachhis own son when the time came. Eric even competedagainsthis father’s team DallasSkylinethroughout high schoolasaquarterback for W.T.White,wherehelatercoached before coming to Rudder.

“Mydad wanted to have me to have anopportunitywhere I wouldn’thaveto maybedeal withthatkindofpressure,” Eric saidofbeinga coach’s son.“But I thoughtthat he wasa really good coachand wouldhave beenneatif he would’ve coachedme.So that’s whyIalways thoughtit wouldbe neat [to coach EJ].”

EJ founda love for football throughhisdaddespitepreferring baseballuntilthesixthgrade.Eric said heﬁrst sawEJ sway towards football whenhebecamea fanof former Texasquarterback Colt McCoy.

EJ saidit wasthe fast-pacednatureofthesportthat caughthis attention.

“I feellike football to meismore

fun,” EJ said.“In baseball youhave to sittherewaitingaround,andin football, asthequarterback you touchthe ball everyplayand you feellike you’re morein control.”

Eric saidit canbehardat times to balance dutiesasbothEJ’s fatherandhead coach,but getting to experienceEJ’s accomplishments fromthesidelineissomethinghe’ll miss come graduation.

“It’s justbeen really fun to see himkindof grow up, becauseI’m usually so busy,” Eric said.“So he goesandlift weights, or when I’m uphere working,he’ll comeupand sometimes we’ll go throw,so itlets us spend a lotoftime together.”

EJ saidhisdadhas “been by my sidethe wholetime,” and theywill remain togetherthis seasonas Rudderattempts to makeits ﬁrst playoff appearance in schoolhistory,amutual goalbetween the fatherand sonafterthree yearswith the Rangers’ program.

“Hopefully we’llboth experiencetheplayoffs,” EJ said. “We’ve

come so farwiththisprogram. We gotonemore year, so Ihope we get towherewewanttobe.That’swhat I’mmost excitedabout.”

ONE LAST RIDE

Withthe regular season onthe horizon,momentslikeSenior Night,the playoffs, graduation andcollegeseemmilesawayforthe HuffsandEzars. Butthatchanges this yearasboth familiesprepare to experience theirﬁnalmoments together asa true football family.

“Ithappenssofast,”Stevesaid.“I wantthemtohavefunwhilethey’re here,because thistimein theirlife is whatthey’ll remembermore thananything,thistime,thesefour yearsthey’vehadtogether,because they won’t getthis back.”

Luckily fortheHuffsandEzars, footballwill continue to be partof their everyday conversationsas both Jettand EJ planonplayingin college.

Jetthasn’tcommittedtoaschool

yetbutattended campsduringthe offseasonandhopes to have anothergreat season to increasehis chancesof earninga scholarship. He wants to majorinasportsrelatedﬁeldandis open to being a coach oneday like his dad.

“I’m just going to miss seeing him everyday. It’s not going to be easy,” Jett saidaboutgraduating nextspring. “It’s going to be cool playing for somebodyelse,notin arude waybutI haven’tplayed [withouthim],especiallysincehe’s my position coach,too,sohaving a differentcoachwillbeinteresting.”

EJ will head to Missouri University of Science and Technologyafterannouncinghiscommitmentin earlyAugust EJsaiditwasaperfect ﬁtfrom thestart. He plansonmajoringinengineering or business.

“I wanted to go somewhere whereI’m wanted,” EJ said, “so that’swhyIcommittedtoMissouri. It’s justa good school.I’ve visited upthere. It’s apretty campus, and it feelslikehome there.”

H6 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle SPECIAL TO THE EAGLE

Ezar FromH4

W.T. Whitehead football coachEricEzar letshissonEJcallaplay. TheEzarsnow forma coach-quarterbackdue fortheRudderRangers.

Vikings ready to build on success

Bryan’s roster small but loaded with varsity experience

ABIGAIL OCHOA

abigail.ochoa@theeagle.com

Bryanis takingonasmall school mentalitythis season.

The Vikings returnahostof playmakers, buttheir rosterlacks depth foraClass6A football team. Bryanwilllook to its40-player roster—aclearchangefromthe average55-60— to playbothsides ofthe ballifaplayer gets injured or wornout.

“We feellike we gotallthe parts. We justdon’thave enough,” head coach Ross Rogers said.“We don’t

have thedepth.We justdon’thave it.They won’tstartboth ways,but they’llbe calledonif we need to rest somebody. We’ve never had asmuchofthatas we’re going to have this year.”

DaveCampbell’s Texas Football hasBryanfinishingthirdin District12-6Abehind Temple andHarker Heights, anupgrade fromlast year’seighth-place projection.ButBryan exceeded those expectations, finishingina three-waytie for secondwitha 5-2 record in district, whichput the Vikingsintheplayoffs forthe firsttimein four years. Theirrun endedinbi-districtagainst Cedar Hill,whichlost to Katyinthestate championship game.

Bryan returns 16 starters with

eightofits seniorsenteringtheir third yearon varsity, makingthe loss of34letterwinnersnotas intimidating.This seniorclass willhave theadvantageofhaving playedagainst tough6A teams throughouttheir career.

The Vikings went4-6in2018 and 2-8in2019playingin 14-6A thanks to a slewof Cypress teams that keptthemoutofthepostseason.Butthat experience,along with facing teamslike Temple and KilleenShoemakerin12-6A, shouldhelpthe Vikingsimmprove this season,Rogers said.

“Those guys were sophomores, so now they’vehadsuccess as juniors,”Rogers said.“Youalways losesome seniors, butthis isprobablythebest core senior

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 ^vs. Lucas Lovejoy (DNP),7 p.m.

Sept.3 College Park7 p.m.

Sept. 10 at Brenham(DNP)7 p.m.

Sept. 17 open

Sept. 24 *Temple (7-44) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 *atBelton(34-33) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 8*#K.Shoemaker(30-42)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 14 *at Killeen(45-27) 7 p.m.

Oct. 22*C. Cove (won by forfeit)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 29*KilleenEllison(24-22)

7:30 p.m.

Nov. 4 *atHarkerHeights(28-21)

7 p.m.

*12-6A games; #Homecoming; ^at Waco ISD Stadium

FACTS

Head coach— Ross Rogers(256143-9 overall, 45-51atBryan)

Assistant coaches— Keith Muehlstein,Nelson Kortis,Bret Page,Mike Woodward,MattRice, ChrisBiggs,Enrique Luna,Scott Garcia, Cody Wilson, Koby Martin, KeithJackson,Russell Young, ChrisHoward, Carlos Luna, ShakobiMcCoy,Ja’MarcusAshley, Dennis Figuresand Columbus

Harris

District— 12-6A

2020 record— 6-3(5-2,2nd)

2020 playoffs— bi-district: CedarHill, 0-27

Returninglettermen— 25 (7offense,9 defensivestarters)

class we’vehadinprobably ﬁveor six years.”

Stayinghealthywillbecrucial ifthe Vikings want to usethat experience to return to theplayoffs.

“Wehaveto just keepourbodies allthe wayup, stay hydrated,do allthestuff,” linebackerandrunning back NicCaraway said. “We mightbeasmall6A,butIknow thatthose 40guys are going to comeouton Fridaynightsandplay theirheartsout.”

Last year Rogers saidBryan was looking foritsidentitybut saidhe doesn’tthink“there’sanydoubt” thatthey’ve founditin this year’s team.

Bryan returnsMalcomGooden

Key returners— DBMatthew Cooks,jr.(12-6ANOY); OG Brandon Walton,sr.(A-D);LBNic Caraway, sr.(A-D); DE TannerAllen,sr. (2nd A-D);WRHunter Vivaldi,sr. (2nd A-D);C AustinPennington, jr. (2nd A-D); OT Andrew Buban, sr.(2nd A-D);DEJon Tavion Workman,sr.(2nd A-D);S Du’wayne Paulhill(2nd A-D)

Keylosses— RB/PKNicoBulhof (A-D); LB CameronWhite(A-D); CB Kenny Collins(2nd A-D)

All-time record— 568-476-41

Playoff appearances/record— 27(21-25)

Playoff appearances(27) 1920-22, 1925, 1934, 1956, 197374, 1982, 1984, 1986-87, 1994-95, 1997-2000,2004,2006-07, 200910,2014-16,2020

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 H7

MICHAEL MILLER, THE EAGLE Bryan’sDu’wayne Paulhill(20) breaksloose from Killeen’s JaydenHill on atouchdownrunduringtheir gamelastseasonatMerrillGreen Stadium. Pleasesee BRYAN, PageH8

2RB/WR TateSchneringer, 5-11, 165 jr.;3 WRHunter Vivaldi, 5-9, 150,sr.;4 DB Andrew Ealoms, 5-11, 175, sr.; 5 DBMatthew

Cooks, 6-2, 190, jr.;6RB Tason

Devault, 5-7, 195, sr.;7RB/LB

Nic Caraway, 6-3, 250,sr.;8QB

MalcomGooden, 5-11, 180,jr.; 9

DBMasonRice,6-0, 160,jr.;10

DBOtis Wright, 5-9, 15, jr.; 11 WR

Tyson Turner, 6-1, 175, soph.;12

WR/DBJacobBatten, 6-1,185, jr.; 14 WR CooperBlevins, 5-7, 135, sr.;15 WR/LB Andrew Walker, 6-1, 220,jr.;16WR/PDerekRamsey, 6-1,160,soph.; 17 QB/WR Karson Dillard, 6-0, 150,jr.;18QB

CreedPierce, 5-11,160,jr.; 19 DB

JTSmith, 5-10,160,sr.; 20 RB/

DBDu’wayne Paulhill, 6-1, 200, sr.; 21 DBJarvis McKyer, 5-9, 150, sr.; 22 RB/LB TateAllen, 6-1, 195, soph.; 23 RBIsaiahNutall, 5-8, 190, soph.; 24 PK MatthewGibson, 5-8, 160,sr.;25DB Diontez

Collins, 5-11,165,jr.; 26 RB Bryson

Davis, 5-9, 190, jr.; 28 LBNoah Merrell, 5-10,185,sr.;30 OL/DL

TannerAllen, 6-3, 240, sr.;32DB

Koby Chambers, 5-9, 145, sr.;34

DL Van Robinson, 6-2, 250,sr.;35

LBMichael Clark, 5-10, 175, sr.;

40DBBryler Cox, 6-0, 160,sr.; 44PKJosueGonzales, 5-6,195, jr.;45LB Zamaryan Robinson, 5-10, 230, sr.;48WRJohnAndrew Isles, 5-10, 170,sr.;52OL/DLIshmealEaloms, 6-0, 230, sr.; 55OL

SalomonCisneros, 5-6, 240, sr.;

56OLMaster Rooks, 5-7, 235, sr.;

58DLJon Tavion Workman, 5-11, 275,sr.;60OL AustinPennington, 6-1,275,jr.;65OL/DL CesarMartinez, 5-11, 230, sr.; 70 OLNorris King, 5-6, 275,sr.; 73 OL Nathan Murphy, 6-3, 270, soph.; 74 OL/

DLJayrinJackson, 6-0, 270, jr.;75

OLIsaccIbarra, 6-3, 360,jr.;77

OLBrandon Walton, 6-0, 280, sr.;

78 OLAndrew Buban, 6-5, 215, sr.;

79OLIsacGonzales, 6-2, 360,jr.;

80PKBryce Luckie, 5-11, 175, sr.;

81WREithen Campos, 5-9, 155, sr.; 82 WR AngelRivera, 5-9, 170, sr.; 85 DL AdrianThompson, 6-2, 220,sr.;88WR CalebBrown, 5-10, 155,sr.; 97 DLMarcelScott, 5-10, 235, sr.; 98 DLJaylin Morris, 6-0, 250,sr.

Bryan

atquarterback,running backs

Du’wayne Paulhill, Tason Devault and Tate Allen,tightend Tanner Allenandwide receiversHunter Vivaldiand Tyson Turneralong withmostofitsoffensive line.

Defensively, the Vikingsare stacked.Purdue recruitCaraway leadsthecrew with Paulhilland Allen backinghimup, andthe entiredefensive line returning. Caraway saidit’s wherethe team holdsthemostdepth.

“We cansubout fourguys and put fourotherguys inand we can keep rolling,” Caraway said.“Our linebacker corps, we’rekindof smallthis year, butIknowthose guys are going to roll. Noneofus

have ever gottendownonthesideline. We’realwaysgoing to roll.”

The Vikingsarestillonthelook for whowill replacekickerand punter Nico Bulhof. Allenwill stepinastheirdeepsnapperwith seniorMatthewGibsonand sophomore DerekRamsey aspossible replacements forBulhof.

Rogers andCarawayagreethat Bryanproved whatit couldaccomplishlast yearandbelieve it can replicatethatsuccess. This yearthe Vikingshave their eyes on contending forthedistrict championshipandmakingalongerplayoff run.

“We’re excited,”Rogers said. “We feellike we ﬁnished real stronglast yearandthis senior class, they’ve gotthedeterminationandhave shownitallsummer, so we haveto carryitintothe fall.”

H8 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

FromH7

ROSTER

EAGLE FILE PHOTOS Bryanrunningback TasonDevault, center,scoresatouchdown against Killeenlastseason.Devaultis one ofseveral veteranleadersthe Vikingsare countingon in 2021.Below, JuniorquarterbackMalcomGoodenisbacktoleadthe Vikings’offensein2021.

Aiming for more

ABIGAIL OCHOA

abigail.ochoa@theeagle.com

The CollegeStation football teamentersthe2021 season packinga rosterloadedwiththree key components— talent, experience andchemistry.

The Cougarsbring back30lettermenincluding22 seniors,who were eighthgraders when College Station wonthestatetitlein2017. They’ve been partofthreestraight trips to thearea roundofplayoffsbutnofurther, astreakthey hope to breakwithamuchlonger

FACTS

Head coach— SteveHuff (160-82 overall, 73-18at College Station)

Assistantcoaches— offensive coordinator Stoney Pryor, defensive coordinator Chance Locklear,special teams coordinatorBrian Edwards,JarrettBeckhusen,MattDeBerry, Gregg Frashure,EddieHancock, DeMarquesJones, Kyle King, ChrisLitton, ZachMarlow, DwightMincher, Daniel Palmer, ChadPeevey, Trent Vittrup, Kyle Walsh

District— 8-5ADivisionI

2020 record 10-2(7-1,2nd)

2020playoffs— bi-district: Sherman,38-26; area Denton Ryan, 21-52

Returning lettermen— 30 (7offensive, 6defensive starters)

Key returners— QBJeff Huff, sr. (18-5AOff MVP); PK Dawson Schremp(8-5A

Co-Specialistof year);RB Marquise Collins,jr.(A-D); WR Traylen Suel,sr. (A-D); WR Dalton Carnes,sr. (A-D); OL Cory Hendrix,sr.(A-D); DL ConnorLingren,sr.(A-D); LBJaxsonSlanker(A-D); WR Houston Thomas,sr.(2nd A-D);C Cade Farrar, sr. (2nd A-D);DE CalebSkow,sr. (2nd A-D);DBByronJohnson,sr (2nd A-D)

Keylosses— RB Roderick Brown(8-5A Co-MVP);DE IsaacAlmarez (A-D);LB Bubba Carter(A-D); DB Keshaun Cooper (A-D); OL OwenJebson(2nd A-D);DL Jo’VaughnHolmes(2nd A-D); LB Lucas Sampson(2nd A-D); DBZha’Mauryon Lofton(2nd A-D)

All-time record— 73-18

Playoff appearances(7) — 2014-20

Playoff appearances/ record 7(15-6)

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL

FOOTBALL2021

Experience on College Station’s side as Cougars hunger for longer playoff run

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MICHAEL MILLER, EAGLE PHOTO College Station’s Dalton Carnes, center,runspast CaneyCreek’sMarcelino Zuniga,left, duringtheir gamelast seasonat Cougar Stadium.

ROSTER

0RBMarquise Collins, 5-10, 195, jr.; 1 DBByronJohnson, 5-10,160, sr.; 2 WR TraylenSuel, 5-9, 160,sr.;3QBJettHuff, 5-10,180,sr.;4DBDenim Day, 6-1,150,sr.; 5 LBHarrison Robinson, 5-9, 175, jr.;6DBMikadoHinson, 5-10,160, sr.;7WR KashRichter, 5-8, 175, jr.;8DBAnthony Tisdell Jr., 5-11, 175, jr.;9 WR Beau Kortan, 5-8, 150, jr.;10 QB Paul Padron, 5-10, 170,jr.;11WR Dalton Carnes, 5-10, 175, sr.; 12DBJarius West, 5-7, 140, sr.; 14 WR AdianPorras 5-8, 150, sr.;16DBRylanDemming, 6-0, 150,jr.; 17 DB Kyle Walsh, 6-0, 190, sr.;18DL Chantz Johnson, 6-1, 200, jr.; 19 PK

DawsonSchremp, 6-0, 175, sr.; 21 RBBradleyJones, 5-10, 175, sr.; 22RB

Nate Palmer, 5-10,180,soph.; 24 DB Tony Hamilton, 5-8, 165, soph.;25 LB Mason Cashion, 6-0, 195, sr.;27LB KoltonGriswold, 5-8, 170,jr.; 28

RBRafael Yanez, 5-10,180,sr.;29PK/PSam Trimble, 5-10, 175, sr.;32WR

KeonteBlue, 5-11, 189, sr.; 33 LB KyleNewsom, 5-9, 185,sr.;34 LB Jaxson Slanker, 6-0, 200, sr.;40LBShaneBellows, 5-11, 195, jr.;44LBJaxon Edwards, 5-10,205, jr.; 52 DL CalebSkow, 6-2, 220, sr.; 53 DLJohnMartinez, 5-4,215,sr.;55OLJeremy Lerma, 5-8, 220,jr.; 58 OL Logan Bradshaw, 5-11, 265, jr.;61OLNoahSherman, 6-0, 250, jr.; 62 OLPrestonBrowning, 5-10,200,sr.; 67 OL Tate Vela, 6-0, 265, jr.; 70 OL Cade Farrar, 6-0, 260, sr.; 74 OL MasonPrice,6-3, 340,sr.; 76 OLRichardMata, 5-10,275,sr.; 77OL Cory Hendrix, 6-5, 300,sr.;79OLJakeUtley, 6-6, 310, jr.;81WR Jackson Verdugo, 6-2, 200, fr.;85WRGraysonBrock, 6-3, 205,sr.;88WR HoustonThomas, 6-5,220, sr.; 91 DL Daa’yanAhmed, 6-2, 215,jr.; 94 DL KorbinJohnson, 6-0, 260, jr.;99DL ConnorLingren, 6-5, 300,sr.

postseason run. Iftheydo, itlikely willstarton offense.

Quarterback JettHuff returns followingan explosive junior seasonas he threw for2,614 yards and30 touchdowns to earn District8-5A-I co-offensive MVP honors. Heconnected on72.6% ofhis passesin2020and could have asimilar seasonwiththe emergenceoftight end Houston Thomasand receivers Dalton Carnes,TraylenSuelandKash Richter.

The receiving corpsaddsheight ontheoutsideandbrings solid experience to theoffense.Seniors Suel(5-foot-11),Thomas(6-5) andCarnes(5-10)accounted for 1,846 receiving yardsand 17 TDs, while5-9Richterhad 179 receiving yardsand fourTDsasa sophomorelast season.

“We’ve been playing together, Jettandallthe receivers, since wewereaboutin seventhgrade, so it’s been really awesomethis offseasonﬁnally to seeitall come together,” Thomas said.

College Station schedule

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 26 atHutto(55-14)7 p.m.

Sept.3 Fort BendBush(54-0)

7 p.m.

Sept.10*Magnolia(16-27)7 p.m.

Sept. 17 *atN. CaneyPorter (24-14)7 p.m.

Sept. 24 *New Caney(49-7) 7 p.m.

Oct. 1 open

Oct. 8 *at Lufkin (45-21) 7 p.m.

Oct. 15*#Cleveland(64-0)7 p.m.

Oct. 22 *at CaneyCreek(72-0)

7 p.m.

Oct. 29 *Waller(61-20)7 p.m.

Nov. 5 *atMagnolia West(70-28)

7 p.m.

*8-5ADI games;#Homecoming

Slankeris backafter earningallstatehonors, ﬁnishing2020with 143 tackles,two sacksandaninterception.Harrison Robinson will returnatoutside linebacker after collecting103 tackles, three sacksand twointerceptionslast season.Also returningis Kyle Walsh, whomHuff saidismoving from safety to outsidelinebacker and couldbeusedinmorethan oneposition this fall.

Byron Johnsonwillleadthe secondary, while ConnerLingren and veteran defensive endCaleb Skow will leadthelinewith Korbin Johnsonand Daa’yanAhmed adding depthandspeedupfront. “A goodoffense comesfrom a gooddefense,” Huff said. “What we dois totallyﬁeldpositionorientedandthedefense gettingin a goodposition to getthe ball back or whateverit is. Butour kids, we dohave abunch coming backon defense. Somekidshave switched positions to makeusstronger in certainareasasthey’ve gottenolderand gottenbiggerand stronger.”

College Station’s passing game typically pairs wellwiththerun game,and whilethe Cougarslose RoderickBrown, whohad 3,039 career rushing yards, theybring backjuniorMarquise Collins, seniorBradley Jonesand sophomore Nate Palmer Collinsleadsthe packafterrushing for1,051 yards and20TDslast year whiletrading snaps withBrown. Joneshad324 yardsandaTD,while Palmerwill makehisdebut for the Cougars.

“Forus, Ithinkthattheykind of work together,” Huff saidofthe pass andrun games “Our backs catchthe ball so well[and]runthe ballobviously really well.It goes well withthestyleofoffense we playthat requiresalotofbodies The ball goes to alotofbodies, andthekidsaregreataboutsharing, so that’s one ofthe really good thingsabout what we do.”

CollegeStationalso returns threestartersontheoffensive line led by SMU recruit CoryHendrix.

Ontheothersideofthe ball, CollegeStationisloadedwith experience.

Senior linebacker Jaxson

Led by veteransonbothsides ofthe ball, CollegeStationalso has Dawson Schremp returning forhis senior season. The8-5A-I co-specialistofthe yearmade 74 of 75 extra-pointkicksand7of11 ﬁeld goalsin2020.

“You really can’thave amore experienced,more together team thanthat,” Slanker said.“It’s going to behuge.It’s going to give us anedge overa lotof teams.”

Texas Football projectsthe Cougars to win8-5A-I, followed by Magnolia,LufkinandMagnolia West Magnoliahanded CollegeStationitsonlydistrictloss last season,andthe rematch could provevitalasthe teamstry to positionthemselves forthe tough postseasonrunthrough RegionII.

The Cougarshopethey canuse what they learnedlast season to helpthem reachthe regional quarterﬁnalsandpossiblybeyond.

“We were still young last year withjuniorsand sophomores,” Huff said. “A bunchofthose kids playedonbothsides ofthe ball, so you can’t callthem young anymore,becausetheyhave had so muchplayingtime. I’mlooking forward to gettinginandjust gettingstarted.”

H10 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL

TheEagle

FOOTBALL2021

CASSIE STRICKER, EAGLE PHOTO College Stationdefensivelineman KorbinJohnson recovers a fumbleagainstNo.1DentonRyanduring last season’s Class 5ADivisionIareaplayoffsat Waco ISD Stadium.

Station FromH9

College

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug.27 Waco University (63-13)7 p.m.

Sept.3HoustonMacArthur (DNP) 7 p.m.

Sept.10%vs. ConverseJudson (DNP) 7 p.m.

Sept. 17 #Willis(21-0)7 p.m.

Sept.25 *at Lamar Consolidated (56-0) 6 p.m.

Oct. 1*Huntsville (7-27) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 7 *atMontgomeryLake Creek(42-28) 7 p.m.

Oct. 15*Montgomery(14-38) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 *at Fulshear (51-0) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 29*Rudder(24-21) 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 5 open % at Texas State *10-5ADII games;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— Lee Fedora(20564-1 overall,38-9 at Consol)

Assistant coaches— Bill Hoppers,Sean Witherwax,Mike Mullins, Sonny Soltis, Chad Bruggman, Ray Kavanaugh,BrandonPhillips, John Branch, Chris Collins,Bart Harris,AllenQuintero,BJ Burton, Aaron Edwards,JansonSoltis District— 10-5ADivisionII

2020 record 8-3(4-2,3rd)

2020playoffs— bi-district: LongviewPine Tree, 28-34 Returning lettermen— 26 (6 offensive, 5defensivestarters)

ALEX MILLER alex.miller@theeagle.com

Contending foradistrictchampionshipisa goal forA&M Consolidatedin2021,butthe Tigers ﬁrsthad to sortoutone key personnelitem— who wouldbetheir startingquarterback.

As preseasonpracticewrapsup, seniorBrodie Danielhasemerged asthe Tigers’ newstartingquarterback, Consolhead coachLee Fedora said.Danielbeatout several otherplayers, includingfreshman

WillHargett. Fedora saidhe waspleasedwith how Consolplayedinitsﬁrst scrimmageagainst Killeenwith Danielatthehelm.

“Brodiedidagreat jobinthat game scrambling wheneverthere wasblitzes,” Fedora said.“He was able to scrambleandstillmakebig passesofitandrunthe ball. He’s thatdual-threat typeofquarterback.”

Last season, Danielplayed receiverbutappearedunder center inwildcat formations Hesaidhe’s workingonmechanicsandisprepared to take overasquarterback, apositionheplayedgrowingup

includingon Consol’sJV teamin 2019.

Overthesummer,Daniel was coached byformer Consolquarterback Kyle Willisduringthe Tigers’ 7-on-7 season.

“Hedeﬁnitelyhelpedmealot,” Daniel said.“I’mdeﬁnitely seeing alotofdifferentstuff now. He’s helpingmewith my reads,andhe’s taughtmealot.Ithinkthat’s going to helpmethroughoutthe season.”

The Tigersreturn backuprunning back KeshunThomas,who rushed for 625 yardsandsix touchdownsasafreshmanlast season. He’s primed to take over as Consol’sstartingrunning back

this fall.

Consol rolling with Daniel as new QB to leadoffense Thomasreturns to power Tiger defense

“Keshundidagreat jobasa freshman, and thethinghehas isthatblast,” Fedora said.“He’sa guythat canrunthroughguys. He canspinoff ofthem.He’s gotgreat speed.Theonething Keshunwill tell you,though,ishe’s got to keep workingon taking care ofthe football,buthe’sa youngmanthat’s gotalotof talent.”

Daniel saidhe expects Consol to runthe ballmorewithhimand Thomas formingastrong tandem inthe backﬁeld.

“He’sdeﬁnitely going to be abig

Key returners— OLRhettLarson,sr.(A-D);DEJadenThomas, sr.(A-D); LB TyndallMcNamara, sr.(A-D); WR Brodie Daniel, sr. (2nd A-D); RB KeshunThomas, soph.(2nd A-D)

Keylosses— DEEricGoodman (10-5A Co-Def.MVP);LB Vince Sheffield(2nd A-D);OL Khoi Watson(2nd A-D); FB/DEJoseph Perez (2nd A-Dbothspots);RB SuttonLake (2nd A-D);DLJesus Duran(2nd A-D); DBJaylen Walter (2nd A-D)

All-time record 513-357-24

Playoff appearances/record — 38(47-34-1)

Playoff appearances(38) 1941-45, 1947-48, 1951, 1953, 1958, 1960, 1989-96, 2001-03, 2005-20

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 H11

COURTNEY CASE,LONGVIEW NEWS-JOURNAL PHOTO A&M Consolidated wide-receiverBrodie Daniel dragsa LongviewPine Tree defenderwithhim as hecrossesthegoal lineduring theirplayoff gamelast seasonatPirate StadiumIn Longview. Danielwilltake over asthe Tigers’ startingquarterbackthisseason. Pleasesee CONSOL, PageH12

ROSTER

Greaves,jr.;9 TraceMeadows,soph.;10 Josh Gooden,jr.;11AlbertGarcia,jr.;12WyattMcDougal,sr.; 14 Johnathan Minor,sr.;15 Cole Eckhardt, sr.;16Dre’KavianMinor,jr.; 17 Tyler Wright, sr.;18Brylan Davis,sr.; 19 Mo Foketi,jr.;20Porter Garner,jr.; 21Emanuel Bravo, sr.;22Major Shulse,sr.; 23 KeshunThomas, soph.; 24 Austin Comte, sr.;25GrantSchlinke, jr.; 26 Christian Watters,sr.;27Niam Adams, sr.; 28 James Smith, soph.; 33 Ethan Zalobny, jr.;36AshtonJasperson,jr.;40 DJ May, sr.;44 TyndallMcNamara,sr.;50Donovan Casiano,sr.;52 CarsonSeiber,sr.; 51 Lyndon Williams,sr.;54 Timothy Chandler,sr.;55JakaiBams, jr.; 56

Daniel Sill,jr.; 58 MatthewDelgado,sr.; 60 Antonio West, sr.; 66 Cody Clough, jr.; 68 Preston Vaughan,jr.; 70 Rhett Larson,sr.;72JoeyLightfoot,jr.;77 BartonMelder,sr.; 78 Tony Taplin,sr.; 83 JuanRios, sr.; 80 BryndonBrown,sr.;94HudsonHouse, soph.; 98Kaizhe Qiu,jr.

Consol

FromH11

partofouroffense,” Daniel said.“I think what’s going to be goodthis yearisI canrunalot,too,so I think that’s going tobe twoguys that can runthe ball.We’llprobablyrunthe balla lotthis year.Ithinkthat’s goingtobeabigfactorinouroffense.”

On defense,the Tigers return defensive end JadenThomasand atriooflinebackers. Last season, Thomas earnedﬁrst-teamalldistricthonorsafter tallying 76 tackles, including12 forloss, and 11 sacks.

“Overall we’re going to be young

inthe secondary, butI feellikeour front sevenis going to be really dominantthis year,” Thomas said. “Wehavesomepeoplereturning ColeEckhardt,Tyndall McNamara andBrockSlaydon—andthenon ourD-line,I’m going to beour only returning starter, butthose guys haveworked really hardthis summer,andthey’regoingtoprove peoplewrong.”

The Tigers don’thave many doubters Consolis ranked No. 16 in Texas Football’s preseasonClass 5ADivisionII polland picked to finish secondinloadedDistrict 10-5A-IIbehindHuntsville.Asthe Tigers look to finishputting some piecestogether,Fedoraadmittedhe wasn’tsatisfiedwithfinishingthird

indistrictlast season.

“Thatain’tfun,soit’sonegameat atime gettingpreparedpredistrict andbe ready, becauseIthinkour district’s going to beanother year of tough teams,” Fedora said.“Of course, youneverknowuntil you get yourkids back for two-a-days andallofthat,butit’s going to be onegameatatime,andIthinkevery game’s going to bea tough battle.”

NOTES—SeniorDre’Kavian Minor willbeeligible to play for the Tigers this fall. Minor wasnot cleared to play varsity football by theUILstate executive committee last Septemberafterit wasdeterminedhetransferredfromRudder to Consolin December2019 for athleticspurposes.

H12 AUGUST2021—HighSchool Football2021 TheEagle

1Brodie Daniel,sr.;3 Roderick Taylor, soph.; 4 EllisMeyers, soph.; 5 JadenThomas, sr.; 6 Christian Dalsing, sr.; 7BrockSlaydon,jr.;8 Wesley

SPECIAL TO THE EAGLE

A&M Consolidatedrunningback KeshunThomaslooks for roomtorunduringthe Tigers’ 56-0shutout of Lamar Consolidatedlastseasonat Tigerland Stadium.

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 H13 ExcitedtoServe Youthis 202Season! FirstFinancialBankbelieves relationshipsarecrucial.It’sagameofinches -everydayanopportunitytoserveyou.Throughourchecking accounts,MobileBankingservices,HomeLoans,ConstructionLoans,BusinessLoansandmanytypesofConsumerLoans,weworkto PUTYOUFIRST.Weare proudtoserveBryan/CollegeStationaswellascommunitiesacross Texas. YOUFIRST | FFIN.com FromFirstDownsto Touchdowns, We Put YOUFIRST.

Short-term focus

Rangers know they must handle one game at atime to reach goals

ALEX MILLER alex.miller@theeagle.com

There’sonequestionRudder football coachEricEzar saidhis teamstill gets asked.

Isthisthe yeartheRangerswill ﬁnallymaketheplayoffs?

AsRudderbeginsits 14th season ofplay, theRangersarestilllooking forthatelusive ﬁrstpostseason berth.In2020, they were an overtimeloss to A&M Consolidated away frompotentially earning theirﬁrsttrip to theplayoffsbut

had to settle forthe second-best seasoninRangerhistoryafterﬁnishing6-4 overall.

Makingtheplayoffsisstillone ofRudder’s top goals, butEzar saidtheRangersmust focusonthe smaller, moreimmediate goals to reachthebigone.

“Ithink you get to where you worryaboutit toomuch,anditbecomesanissue,” Ezar said.“We’re going to take itone gameatatime.

We think we have thebest team we’vehadinRudderhistoryand have achance to dothethings we need to do.”

Leadingthe way fortheRangersis seniorquarterbackEJEzar, sonofhead coachEricandthreeyearstarter In2020, Ezarﬁnished

fourthinallofClass5ADivision IIin passing yards(2,551),throwing23 touchdown passes. He also rushedfor 700yardsand10touchdowns EJEzar saidhe’s workedon improvinghisarmstrengthand accuracythisoffseason.

“I’ve tried towork onstaying inthepocket,notescaping too much, so Ithinkthat’s whereI’ve grownthis year,” EJEzar said.

Rudderwillhaveto replace top playmaker KeithronLeeandMarcusDilesatwide receiver, andthe Rangershave amultitudeofoptions.Junior receivers Nate Figgers and Kevin Holmes,whodidn’tplay last year, areboth6-foot-4. The Rangersalsohave juniors Michael Listerand Kentun Kingat receiver

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 Bastrop(49-7) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 3 %vs.El Paso Americas (DNP)6:30 p.m.

Sept.10atElgin(DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 PortLavaca (DNP)7 p.m.

Sept. 24 *atHuntsville(17-36)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1*LakeCreek(25-61)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 8 *atMontgomery(22-49)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 15*#Fulshear(35-14)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 open

Oct. 29 *atA&M Consolidated (21-24) 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 5*Lamar Consolidated (28-21) 7:30 p.m. %in Kerrville

*10-5ADII games;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— EricEzar(25-35 overall,11-9 atRudder)

Assistantcoaches— offensive coordinator Edgar Vasquez, defensive coordinator Timothy George,BryanDouglas,Matt Garza, ShaneFlater, Calvin Hill, MichaelIbrahim,Ryan O’Bryant, AndyThorne, Jihad Wright, TerrancePreston, KaidrionLatson andThomasGoodman

District— 10-5ADivisionII

2020 record 6-4 (2-4,5th)

Junior Montavian Reed returnsas Rudder’s toprunning back.

“They’regoing to bestudsthis year,” EJ Ezar saidoftheRangers’ receiving corps. “They’re young, but we’vebeen workingallsummer to getthatchemistry, so it shouldbe very exciting to see what they cando.”

Rudder’sdefenseisloadedwith experienceastheRangers return ninestartersonthatsideofthe ball,includingdefensive end Devion Howard anddefensive back Tre McLenton, whoareboth seniors.

“We’re very athletic,andIthink thatourdefensive line’sdeﬁnitely

Returninglettermen— 31 lettermen(7offensive, 8defensivestarters)

Key returners— OLJasonBatiste, sr.(A-D);DL Lyndon Williams,sr.(A-D);QB EJ Ezar,sr. (2nd A-D);LBJamarcusJones,sr (2nd A-D);LBJeremiahJohnson, sr.(2nd A-D);DEDevion Howard (2nd A-D)

Keylosses— WR Keithron Lee (10-5AOff MVP,UTsignee);WR MarcusDiles(2nd A-D);DL Colton Stewart (2nd A-D); DBDe’Andre Heard(2nd A-D)

All-time record — 36-90-1

Playoff record— 0-0

FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

H14

AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL

MICHAEL MILLER, THE EAGLE RudderquarterbackEJ Ezar, right, racesdownﬁeldagainstA&M Consolidatedduringtheir District10-5ADivisionII gamelastseason. Pleasesee RUDDER, PageH16

Defense stout for Cubs in 2021

Hemphill, Watts, Villatoro lead talented secondary for Brenham

ABIGAIL OCHOA abigail.ochoa@theeagle.com

Brenham’sdefenseistakingcenter stagein 2021.

TheCubs returnninestarters defensivelywiththemajoritycoming back fortheirthird yearonthe varsityteam.Brenhamisespecially stronginthe secondary,which helpedtheCubs to a6-1 record in District 13-5A-IIlast season while allowingjust83points through sevenleague games.

Seniordefensive backEric Hemphillleadsthe group alongside veteransKaden Wattsand Adan Villatoro. Last season Villatoro had 73 tacklesand twointerceptions,while Wattshad21 tacklesand fourinterceptionsand Hemphillﬁnishedwith 33 tackles.

Villatoroand Hemphill were both unanimousall-districtﬁrst-team picks, and Texas Football named HemphillDistrict 13-5ADivision II’s preseasondefensive MVP.

Thespeedytrioalsoplayreceiver onoffense and serveas key targets forquarterbackStevenStackhouse.

“That’s reallyour calling card,” Hemphill said oftheirspeed.

“We’ve always beenfast,and we’re really going to usethat to ouradvantagein everything—through defense, throughoffense,with plays. We have peoplelike Adam Villatoro;he’sgoodinspace.Kaden Watts, he’s goodin space. We just have alot ofplayers whowilljust getout and run.”

Brenham’slinebacker corps brings back Jermain Johnsonand Brandon Ward,who combined for 111 tackleslast year. Thedefensive line features5-foot-9,300-pound Koby Washington returningalong withendsBlake Jones(37 tackles) and MichaelLewis (46 tackles).

TheCubs have morespots to ﬁlloffensively, especially onthe line, butStackhouse returnsafter throwing for1,653 yardsand 20 touchdownsandrushing for 363 yardswithfourTDs.Hemphillsaid

ROSTER

2WR/DBEricHemphill;3WR/DB Kaden Watts;4QB/DBRylan Wooten; 5 RB/OLBJavonDixon;6WR/DB Adan Villatoro;7RB/OLBBlane Bolcerek; 8 RB/LBJermainJohnson;9 RB/LBDevinMurithi;10RB/OLBAmirJohnson; 11QB Steven Stackhouse;12WR/DBAidenKlehm; 13 WR/DBIan Stelter; 15WR/DBDelvin Gantt;16WR/DBIvanSalazar; 17 WR/DB AlandrickAndrade;18RB/OLBBrandon Ward; 19 RB/OLB RonnieGibson;20WR/DB Xavier McGowan;21WR/DBSavionRagston;22RB/DL Trey Phillips; 23 RB/ DB Trenton Gilbert; 24 WR/DB Reid Robinson.;27WR/DB XavierHarris; 28 WR/DE JordanMathis;30RB/LBRickyBrown; 33 RB/LBMatthewProeung; 34 RB/LB Michael Lewis; 37 WR/OLB JustinGarcia;40RB/LBJamey Rogers;42RB/LB Zaine Williams;44WR/DEBlakeJones;48WR/DB T’ondrick Johnson;50OL/DLJathynnBennett; 52 OL/DL Zach Resendez;54OL/DL TimMorrison; 55 OL/DLJaeron Robinson;56OL/DLBenGuerrero;60OL/ DL Mason Finke; 64 OL/DL Kaleb Devous;68 OL/DL KadeLasagna; 70 OL/ DLNik Kiesz; 72 OL/DL Logan Marshall; 74 OL/DLLanceMaxie;75 OL/ DLEricAschebeck; 78 OL/DLQuintonGraves;81OL/DLWR/DB Datavian Franklin; 82 PKBrantBender; 90 OL/DL Devin Washington;99 OL/DL Kobe Washington

he’sexcitedtoseewhatStackhouse candowithanother yearunderhis belt.

“Ithinkanytime youhave a quarterbackthat hashad experience, you can take adeepbreath,” head coachEliotAllen said. “He’s still got to improveand getbetter,

Dixon, who ran for 486 yardsafter missing partofthe seasondue to an injury.

“He’skindofahomerunhitter attherunning backpositionand hashadlotsof carries atthe varsitylevel,”Allensaid.“Anytimeyou have thatkindofbreakawayspeed, it’s good.Ifhehitsthecrease right, it could bea touchdown.”

Senior Amir Johnson and junior Trenton Gilbertalsowillﬁgure into therun game. Johnsonplayed receiverlast yearandhad 179 receiving yards and twoTDs,while Gilbertrushed for 160 yardsand two TDs in four games.

Allen, whoisinhis fourth year atthehelm,has continuedBrenham’sstringofpostseasonappearances thatbeganin2004. He said this yearwill comewithits own obstaclesbuthopesiftheright piecescometogether,itcouldmean extendingthestreak to 18straight playoff trips.

“We’reprettyexcitedaboutallof our returners,” Allen said. “We’ve gotalot of returners backonthe defensive side,so hopefully we can play gooddefenseandﬁnd ouroffensivelineandmaybewecanmake arun.”

Brenhamisprojected to ﬁnish secondin 13-5A-II by Texas Footballwithitstopcompetitionforthe championship comingfrom Leander Rouse,theonlyleague team to beattheCubslastyear.TheRaiders also reachedthe regional semiﬁnals, and Rousequarterback MasonShorbwasnamedthedistrict’s preseasonoffensive MVP.

TheCubs’playoffrunlastseason wascutshort whenMarble Falls kickeda40-yardﬁeldgoalfora2724 victory inthebi-district round.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 atMagnolia West(28-48)

7 p.m.

Sept.3Magnolia(10-35)7 p.m.

Sept.10Bryan (DNP) 7 p.m.

Sept. 17 open

Sept. 24 *LeanderGlenn(35-14)

7 p.m.

Oct. 1 *atEast View (28-26)7 p.m.

Oct. 8 *atBastrop (47-3)7 p.m.

Oct. 15*#Pﬂugerville Connally (41-0)7 p.m.

Oct. 22 *at Elgin (59-7) 7 p.m.

Oct. 29*Bastrop CedarCreek (49-7)7 p.m.

Nov. 5 *at Leander Rouse (19-26)

7 p.m. *13-5ADII games;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— EliotAllen (142-74 overall, 24-12atBrenham)

Assistant coaches— Danny Ramsey, Rory Faver, Phillip Roberts,JerrodMcCollister

District— 13-5ADivisionII

2020 record — 6-4 (6-1, 2nd)

2020 playoffs— bi-district: Marble Falls, 24-27

Returninglettermen— 26 lettermen(6offensive, 9defensive starters)

Key returners— DL Kobe Washington,sr.(A-D);DEMike Lewis, sr.(A-D);TEAmirJohnson,sr (A-D); DB Eric Hemphill,sr.(Un. A-D); DB Adan Villatoro, sr. (Un. A-D); LB Brandon Ward,jr.(2nd A-D); DB Kaden Watts(2nd A-D); LB JermainJohnson(2nd A-D); DE BlakeJones,sr. (HM A-D);DE JordanMathis,sr.(HM A-D);OLJustinGarza,sr.(HM A-D);PK Brant Bender, sr. (HM A-D);RB Javon Dixon,sr.(HM A-D)

buthe’s gotalotof talent,andhe’s gotalotofexperience,sowe’re excitedabout that.”

Wide receiverwillbe thin this yearwithplayers like Hemphill and Villatoro playingbothsides ofthe ball, Allen said.Regardless, theCubsreturnrunningbackJavon

“We’rereallyhungry,” Hemphill said “We’retrying to develop thatunderdog mentality, because a lotofpeopleareprobably going to doubtus[basedon] what we did last yearand how we looked,but we’rejust going to come out every dayand work. That’s thebiggest thing.”

NOTES— GeorgetownEast View andLeanderGlennarepredicted to take 13-5A-II’s ﬁnal two playoff spots.

Keylosses— LB Trey Lawhun (13-5A Def. MVP);WR CamRichardson (A-D);OL KeatonAltman (A-D);OL Jared Zwahr(2nd A-D); RBJ’sin Lopez(2nd A-D);DL Keanu Jones (2nd A-D);DBQuan Jones(2nd A-D);OL LeeGraves (HM A-D)

All-time record— 652-394-38

Playoff appearances/record (45) 49-42-1

Playoff appearances(47)

1927, 1929, 1933, 1941-42, 194445, 194, 1949-51, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1968-72, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1999-2002,2004-20; zoneplayoffs: 1968, 1987

H15

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021

CASSIE STRICKER, THE EAGLE Brenhamdefensive backEricHemphillIIIis a key leaderinthesecondary for the Cubs and alsoplays wide receiver.

Rudder

FromH14

going to beastrength,” EricEzar said. “Wehave alotof teamspeedthat we’re excitedabout,andIknow goingagainst thematpractice,it’s hard to blockthem.”

Defensive captainand seniorMarcus Heard saidtheRangershope to set a physical tone by stoppingtherun.

“We’ve got somedogs ontheD-line, someguys youhaven’theardofbut who have been workingintheshadows,” Heard said.

Nondistrictaction fortheRangers features toughmatchupsagainst Port Lavaca Calhoun and El Paso Americas,whichwillbeaneutral-site game playedin Kerrville.InDistrict10-5A-II play, Rudderdraws away gamesagainst thedistrict’s topthree teamsfromlast season—Huntsville, Montgomeryand Consol.

EJEzar saidhethinksthisRangers squadhasimprovedits overalldiscipline and team bond.The goalis to putthings togetherand reachthepostseason by handling each weekasit comes.

“We’ve got to take itone gameat a time,becauselast year we startedoff so strong,andIthink we kindoflooked to-

wardsthefuture,” EJEzar said. “That’s why we didn’t really getitdone. So I thinkthis year what’s mostimportant

is takingit week by week by week. Take care of eachopponentandnotlook to the future toomuch.”

ROSTER

2DE DevionHoward, 6-4,250,sr.;3WRNate Figgers, 6-4, 165,jr.; 4 WR/DBMJ Heard, 5-10,185, sr.;5 WR MichaelLister, 5-10, 175, jr.;6RB/DB Tre McLenton, 5-11,185,sr.;7WR/LB/PJeremiah Johnson, 6-4, 190, sr.;8 WR Anthony Currie, 5-7, 130, sr.;9 WR/DB Kentun King, 5-7, 135, jr.;11 LB Lukas Hardy, 5-10,180,sr.; 12 WR/DB Tremmel Hall, 5-7, 160,soph.;13QBEJEzar, 5-11, 195, sr.; 14 WR/DB JaquiseMartin, 5-10, 170,fr.;15QB/RBIvan Reyes, 5-8, 140, jr.;16 QB/DB XavierRamirez, 5-11,180, jr.;18 DBNickOliva, 5-9, 175, sr.; 20 OL/DL Breylon Norwood, 5-9, 250, soph.; 21 RB/RBJamarian West, 5-8, 235, soph.;22WR/DB Tru Campbell, 5-8, 140, jr.; 23 LB JamarcusJones, 5-10,200, sr.; 24 RB/DB Montavian Reed, 5-9, 155,jr.; 26 DB PrentissMadison, 5-10, 170,sr.;27WR/DBJalon Webber, 5-9, 145, sr.; 28 WR/DBRyan Campbell, 5-7, 135, soph.;32RB/ LBMatthewRuffino, 5-9, 145, jr.;35OL/DLCJNash, 6-0, 245, sr.;36WR/DB/P Caleb Cook, 5-5, 130, jr.; 38WR/DBMalikDunn, 5-11,165,soph.; 44 LB Trace Emola, 5-8, 195, soph.;50 OL/DL HunterMcGary, 6-0, 250,sr.;51OL ChrisEsquivel, 5-10,250,sr.;52 OL DaltonPurvis, 5-10,255,sr.; 53 OL Xavier Camero,5-9, 260, jr.; 54 OL/DL StanleyGilbert, 5-10, 275,sr.; 55 OL/DL JasonBatiste,6-1,275,sr.; 60 OL DalonHarris, 6-0, 240, sr.; 65OL ConnorMcQueen, 5-8, 245, sr.;72OL/DS TommyMarkwardt, 6-2, 255, sr.;77OL/DSJose Contreras, 5-10,250,jr.; 80 PK Bryce Tumlinson, 5-8, 150,sr.;88WR KevinHolmes, 6-4, 170,jr.; 99 RB/DL Lyndon Williams, 6-2, 245, sr.

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H16 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle MICHAEL MILLER, THE EAGLE Head coachEricEzar,right, ledtheRudderRangerstooneoftheir bestseasonsin schoolhistory last year,ﬁnishing 6-4and justmissing the program’s ﬁrstplayoff berth.

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Rattlers picking up where they leftoff

Navasota loaded with experience after last year’s playoff run

ABIGAIL OCHOA abigail.ochoa@theeagle.com

Navasota’s run to theClass4A DivisionII regionalquarterﬁnals last seasonisprovidingmuch comfort to theRattlersin2021.

Asidefrom returning solidplayersfromthat team, Navasota head coachCaseyDacus saw whathis young roster coulddo whenunder pressureandwithoutmuch experienceatthe varsitylevel.

“We were youngin key places,” Dacus said.“Ja’mar [Jessie]had never takenasnapona Friday night.Positionwise wewere brand newat receiver Defensively we were olderbutstill youngin some positions. We justmovedalotof thingsaroundlast year We were very happywiththe yearand thought we madea tonofprogress by theend.”

Offensively, theRattlersleaned on veteranrunning back Darius Randle, whoaccounted for1,277 total yardsin2020. ButRandle sprainedhisankleinthebi-districtplayoffs, settingthestage for the young Ja’marion Frear, who rackedup 330rushing yardson 49 carriesin Navasota’s ﬁnal two playoff games.

BackupquarterbackDrew Gonzales wasnext to stepup when Jessiesufferedashoulderinjuryin thearea round.Gonzaleshelped Navasota beat Rockport-Fulton 39-34andﬁnishedthe season competing12of26 passes for 148 yardsandaTD. XavierSteptoe, nowa senior, also rose to the top ofa young receiving corps, catching 37 passes for480 yardsand ﬁve touchdowns.

Navasota couldn’t keepupwith Navarrointhe regionalquarterﬁ-

SCHEDULE (Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Frear. Youhave JohnLeeonone side,Steptoeontheother.Keshon Wilsonis back, whoplayed abig role forus, especiallylatein the yearlast year. When youhave more than one guy who can make plays andmakethedefensesplay honestly, thenitopensthings up.” Defensively,theRattlersarestill relatively young, especiallyinthe secondary, Dacus said.Theylost key startersinAaron Nicholsand JoelCastanedabuthope to lean on returning seniorlinebacker Jaylen Myles(83 tackleslast year),junior DB Nicolas Casteneda (12 tackles) and seniordefensive endsBraelin Whitley(9 tackles) and Ja’marion Mills.

ROSTER

0 FrankedricPowell,soph.;1Ja’marJessie, sr.; 2 Xavier Steptoe,sr.; 3 Ja’marion Fear, sr.; 4John Lee, sr.;5Jakiem Paldo, sr.; 6Nicolas Castaneda, jr.;7 Camden Dacus,jr.;8 JJ Graves,soph.;9Noah Silcox,soph.;10 Keshon Wilson,jr.;12M’Kheilan Woods,jr.;15 Jessie Valadez, sr.; 17 Jamal Thomas, soph.;18 Kadden Hubbard,soph.; 19 Cory Baldobino, sr.;21 D’AngeloJackson,sr.;22JaylenHubbard,sr.; 23Kaleb Walker,jr.; 24 GiovanniJennings, jr.;29MasonPhillips,jr.;30 Juan Vargas,soph.;32Jaylen Myles,sr.; 33 BraelinWhitley, sr.;36 Chris Thompson,soph.; 37 FabianPerez, soph.; 44 AlexSantos, sr.; 45 Chris Tejeda,jr.;48AnthonyHernandez, sr.;52 KendavionJohnson, sr.; 55Derrick Robinson,sr.; 57 GagePonton, jr.;58Jayden Shepard,jr.;61SheldonRayford,sr.;64Jy’EricHouston,sr.;65Marco Mendoza,sr.;68Douglas Franklin, jr.; 70 EbibertoAlvarado,sr.; 74 Ja’marion Mills,sr.;75Matthew Sosa,soph.; 77Jose Lopez, sr.; 78EduaradoPerez, sr.; 84 Cade Richards, sr.

nalsandlost28-7, but by thenthe Rattlershadproventhey could handlethepressureof Friday night. Nowthey’reready to build onthatmomentum.

“We feel really conﬁdent,” said Jessie, whothrew for2,182 yards and 24 TDslast year. “We feellike

everything we’redoingthis yearis going to be way easier, because we diditlast yearwith eachother.”

Navasota willalsohave JohnLee and Keshon Wilsonas targets for Jessie.

“The coolthingisit’s notjust oneguy,”Dacus said.“Youhave

“Wehave abunchof youngguys whowillplayinthe secondary, so I’m excited to seehowthatall shakesout,becausethey’re very athletic, very talented,”Dacus said.“Theyjustneed some experience.I’manxious to see twoor three weeksinhowthatlooks. But ourfrontI feel really goodabout.” Dacus saidtheRattlerswillbe morecreative withplays, somethingthey couldn’tdoas easily last yearbecauseoftheirlackof experience.

The teamalsoisanxious to face itsDistrict 13-4A-IIopponents again. Dacus saidstabilityand consistencywillhelpitthrough that gauntlet.

Navasota went4-1indistrict playandisprojected to ﬁnish secondbehindtheonly teamit lost to inleagueplaylast year:Cuero. TheRattlerswillbeprepared for round twowiththeGobblers and fellowdistrictopponentsLa Grange,Giddings, Smithvilleand Gonzales.

“Ourguys are hungry,”Dacus said.“Theyknowthey canwin now, andthat’s abig partofthat. It’llbea battle every Friday, but we’re excitedabout who we’re bringing to the battle.”

H18 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle Aug. 27 atWharton(35-13) 7:30 p.m. Sept.3 Sealy (33-28) 7:30 p.m. Sept.10at Mexia(14-38) 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 atHuffmanHargrave (0-12) 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24 #Yoakum(DNP) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1 open Oct. 8*Smithville(23-20) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 *atLaGrange(42-21) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 *Cuero(21-38) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29*Gonzales (47-36) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5 *atGiddings (37-35) 7:30 p.m. *13-4ADII games; #Homecoming

FACTS

EAGLE FILEPHOTO Quarterback Ja’marJessie, right,isbacktoleadtheNavasotaRattlers’ offensethis seasonafterlearningonthejoblast yearasajunior.

Caldwell looks to Patterson to duplicate the success he had at Snook

ROBERT CESSNA robert.cessna@theeagle.com

If Boone Pattersonhasthekind ofsuccess at Caldwellthathe hadatSnook,Burleson County officials might consider putting upbillboardsonState Highway 36 as youenterthe county saying,“Buckle Up, You’re Entering Boone Country.”

Last seasonSnook reachedthe regional round fortheﬁrsttime sincetheBluejays resurrectedthe programin2010 Snook’sﬁrstdistricttitleand twoplayoff victories attheClass2ADivisionIIlevel earned Pattersonapromotion to 3ADivisionICaldwell, whichhas won back-to-backplayoff games onlyonceinmorethanahundred seasons.

“Everythinghasits ownlittle tweaks andits ownspecialcircumstances,”Patterson said,addingthatthe schools’players have similar backgroundsand family valueswithhard work atthe core ofthem.“That’s beenablessing to comeintothe samekindofatmosphereas faras to whatthe community’s expectationsareandhow they raisetheirkidsand whatkind ofkids we’re getting.”

Patterson sawCaldwellﬁrsthandlast seasonasthe Hornets heldon fora28-26victory over theBluejaysina seasonopener rescheduledbecauseof cancellations caused by COVID-19.

“Coach[Matt]Langleyandhis staff didagreat joboflayinga foundationofhard work anddedication to athletics, notjust footballitself,” Patterson said.“We’re justtrying to continuethatand putour ownlittlespinonit.”

Patterson said teenagersadapt quickly to change.

“Allthey really care aboutis whendothey getthe ballor when dothey get to blitz,” Patterson said.

RyanShupak, whohasgrabbed lotsof baseballsatshortstopon the Hornets’ baseball team,is playing footballinhisﬁnalhigh

ROSTER

1JamarHewitt, sr.;2Blane Garza,soph.;3 RyanShupak, sr.; 4Ian Recio, sr.; 5Jace Aly,sr.;6 TreBurns, sr.; 7 Conner Lee, jr.;8 ZachHeaton,jr.; 9 TravisBalcar,jr.;10 Ivan Granados,sr.;11BradenPerkio,soph.;12Jamin White,soph.; 17 BraxtonSmith,jr.;22LaramiePieper, sr.; 23 Christian Trinidad,jr.; 24 Adian Torres,soph.;27 Skye Farrington,sr.;50 Carson Parker,jr.;52BrandonHirsch,sr.;54DysonDrgac, jr.;56Jesse Enrique, sr.; 60 JoshMowbray, jr.; 62,GarrettTittle,sr.; 63JimJackson,jr.;64 Colton Hirsch,sr.; 70 JustinBalcar, jr.;71 LucasPeel,jr.; 74 Bryan Martinez, sr.;77 MarQualanGreen,sr.;DelvinMorris,sr.

school season.

“He’s gotquiteanarm,” Patterson said.

Shupak, who ranleadoff onthe school’s4x200-meter relay team thatqualiﬁed forstate,is battling TravisBalcaratquarterback.Balcar,whoalsoplays baseball,played tightendlast seasonand wasthe JVquarterbackasafreshman.

“We’re all teammates,” Shupak said.“We’re pushing eachother, andit’s justmaking eachofusbet-

ter.”

Senior DeAutreBurns returns atwide receiver, and senior Jamar Hewittis backatrunning back. DysonDrgac,who earned secondteamall-districtattightendlast year, willplaymultiplepositions, whilemuchis expectedfrom seniorrunning back/defensive back Jace Aly. Seniordefensive linemenMarqualanGreenand Delvin Morrisstoodoutinﬁlma yearago when Patterson was scoutingthe

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 atManorNew Tech (DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept.3 #Hempstead (28-26) 7:30 p.m.

Sept.10atBrookshire Royal (DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Hornets.SeniorlinebackerLaramie Pieperhad88 tackleslast season.Two-waylinemanGarrett Tittleisa returningafter earning second-teamall-districthonors.

“I’m excited for this season and what we havetooffer,” Tittle said.

Hesaida key willbeleaningon eachother.

“Trust your teammatesand theirabilities,” Tittle said.“Let themdotheir joband youdo your job.If everybodydoestheir part,it shouldall come together.”

A key forsuccess willbestayingenergizedandﬁnishingthe season,Shupak said.

Caldwell wonitsﬁrst two gameslast seasonbutthenlost eightstraight.The Hornets were outscored 275-136 insixdistrict games,losing four by atleastthree touchdowns.

“Theguys arehealthierand strongerandthenew coaching staff hasbroughtnewenergy,” Shupak said.

Pattersonhasput togethera youngstaff,whichhebelievesadds to the teamenthusiasm.

NOTES Caldwellispicked to ﬁnishlastinDistrict11-3ADivision by Texas Football. ...The only seasonCaldwell won backto-backplayoff games camein 2015 whenitdefeated Columbus andLaMarquebeforelosing to WestOrange-Starkunder Dale Williams, who went41-21with threeplayoff appearances coachingthe Hornets. Langley, who was5-15 in two seasons, resigned to returnhome to East Texas to beanassistant coach.Langley, who wasoffensive coordinator at SanAntonioBrandeisbefore coming to Caldwell,isfrom Palestineandhadbeenanassistant at Corsicana, Henderson,Chapel HillandElysian Fields,wherehis wifeisfrom.Langley washiredas Arp’soffensive coordinatorin July. He alsowillbetheboys andgirls headtrack coach.Arpispicked to ﬁnish fourthin9-3A-II by Texas Football.

Sept 17 Giddings (14-50) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 *Cameron Yoe (27-54) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 open

Oct. 8 *at Rockdale (26-55) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 15 *Academy (22-48) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 *at Troy (6-21) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 29*Lorena(14-48) 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 5 *atMcGregor (41-49) 7:30 p.m. *11-3ADI games;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— Boone Patterson(11-12 overall,ﬁrst yearat Caldwell)

Assistant coaches— JacobPowell,Matt Kana, BeckNeal,Craig Smith,Lamar Lewis, Luke Calvert, Ryan Campbell, Kyle Toney, Jacob Schaefer, WaylandJenkins

District— 11-3ADivisionI

2020 record— 2-8 (0-6, 7th)

Returninglettermen 19 lettermen (8offensive, 7defensivestarters)

Key returners— TEDysonDrgac, sr.(2nd A-D);OLGarrett Tittle,sr. (2nd A-D)

Keylosses— WRDeAutreBurns (A-D); DBDontavienJohnson (A-D);

All-time record— 469-483-33

Playoff appearances/record— 23 (14-20-1)

Playoff appearances(22) 1924, 1926, 1928, 1930-32, 1935, 1939, 1971, 1980, 1984, 1994, 1999,2003-04,2007-09,2014-17

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 H19

CASSIE STRICKER THE EAGLE RyanShupak,whoplaysshortstopon Caldwell’sbaseballteam,joined theHornets’football team forhis senior seasonandis vying for time at quarterback.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 Lago Vista (DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept.3 at Bellville(41-54)

7:30 p.m.

Sept.10 Franklin(37-8)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 atLakeBelton

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 *at Caldwell (54-27) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1*Rockdale (9-42) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 8 *Academy(37-19) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 15*#Troy (20-21 OT)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 *at Lorena (20-28)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 29*McGregor(16-24)

7:30 p.m.

Nov. 5 open

*11-3ADI games;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— RickRhoades (150-61-0 overall in 15 years, 82-17at Cameronin 7 years)

Assistant coaches— defensive coordinator TylerBlackshire, offensive coordinator Lupe Florez,specialteams coordinator PeteMagre, HectorDelgadillo, LanceHause, Edgar Luna, Caleb Clark, KyleDooley, PrestonEhler, ChrisSummerﬁeld,IanPotthoff, BrandonThiry

District— 11-3A-D1

2020 record— 4-5(2-4,6th)

Returninglettermen — 18lettermen(6offensive, 8offensivestarters)

Key returners— WRPharrell Hemphill,jr.(A-D);PR Phaibian Bynaum,sr.(A-D);LB FabianSalomon,sr.(A-D);LBLandon Greene, jr. (2nd A-D);LB ColtonBarbo,jr. (2nd A-D)

Key losses— DL EduardoGil (11-3ADef. MVP);WR Za’Korien Spikes(A-D);DBIversonBraziel (2nd A-D)

All-time record— 737-365-43

Playoff appearances/record 46(76-40-3)

Playoff appearances(46) — 1934, 1936, 1946-48, 1951, 1954, 1964-67, 1974-75, 1978, 1981-1993, 1996-98, 2000-02,2005-07, 2010-19

Rhoades returns to lead Cameron

Yoemen primed to return to postseason under former coach

ABIGAIL OCHOA abigail.ochoa@theeagle.com

Breakinginanewhead coach andstartingquarterbackafter coming off a frustrating season wouldbe cause for concern for any football team.

It’s a mere afterthought for Cameron, which returnsRick Rhoades who tookthe Yoemen to ﬁve statechampionship games and wonthreetitlesfrom20092015witha82-17 record overall.

It’s ahappyhomecoming forthe coach wholeftin2016and was set to retire afterthe2020 seasonat Gregory-Portlandbefore returning to Cameronin February.

Rhoadeswilllookto turnaround aprogramthat returns 14 starters butmissedtheplayoffslast season fortheﬁrsttimesince2009after going 2-4inDistrict11-3ADivisionI.Returning to thepostseason shouldn’tbe toodauntinga task, forCameron’s rosterisfullof talent,andthe seniors,who were in seventhgrade whenRhoadesleft theprogram,have theadvantage of seeinghowsuccessfulhis teams were inthe past.

“The goodthingisthey’ve seen the resultsas well,” Rhoades said. “Sotheyknowthatiftheydo what we askthem to do,there’sachance that we’llbe very, very successful. Our expectationshaven’tchanged from whenI washerebeforeuntil now.”

Cameronispicked to ﬁnish secondbehindLorenain11-3A-I this season by Texas Football. Yoemenlinebacker Fabian Salomon, whoalsoplays running back, was namedthe district’s preseason defensive MVP by themagazine.

WithRhoades backincharge, running backanddefensive backPhaibian Bynaum saidthe teamhasadaptedquickly to his schemesand coachingstyle.

“I feellike everyoneisbuyinginto what CoachRhoades isbringing back to Cameron,” Bynaum said.“Everybody wants

Cameron’s Jaidyn Sanchezholdsontothe footballas Franklin’s Seth Shamblintackleshimduring their gamelastseasonin Franklin.

ROSTER

1WR/DBJavounGoldsby, 6-0, 150,sr.; 2 WRJaidynSanchez, 5-7, 149, sr.; 3WR/DB KasonGoolsby, soph.;4 WR/DBPharrell Hemphill,jr.;5 WR/DB PhaibianBynaum, 5-11, 170,sr.;6WR/DBArmando Reyes,jr.;7QBRyan Muniz, sr.; 8 DB KadariusBradley, soph.;9 QB/DBLandenGreen, 5-8, 150, jr.;10WR/DB Tate Stroud, sr.; 11WR/PKJesseMartinez, sr.; 14 DB Carlos Bolivar,sr.;15QB/DBBraylanDrake, soph.;16WR/DB Tyler Talafuse, 6-0, 148, sr.; 17 WR/DB ConnorJeter,jr.;18WR/DBSicorySmith,jr.;20LBBraylonJones,jr.; 22 WR/DB Charlie Mayer, jr.; 25 LBPedroSorola,sr.;30WR/ DB Ja’QuoriusHardman, 5-6,140, soph.;34 RB/LB ColtonBarbo, 5-11, 175, jr.;35RB/LB FabianSalomon, 5-8, 170,sr.;36RB/KB KeshonJohnson, 5-11, 225,jr.;42DL Cody Webb,soph.;50 OLBDominickRangel, 6-1, 190, sr.; 52 OLMason Leifeste,soph.;54 OL/DLJa’KobeBailey, 5-10,220,jr.;55LB/PK AngelMartinez, 5-10, 190, sr.;60OL/DL CarlosSalomon, 5-9, 170,jr.;62OL TrentonBerry, soph.;64 OL/DLGarﬁeldEngland, 5-8, 225,sr.; 66 OL/DL Hunter Hux,sr.; 68OL/DLMatthew Barron,jr.; 74 OL/DL ColbyArney, sr.; 75OL/DB Colby Wilson,soph.;88 WR/DB Trayjen Wilcox, 5-8, 137jr.

to winstatechampionshipslike how[theydid] whenhe washere, so everyoneisbuyingin whatthey gotplanned forus.”

Bynaum, whorushed for404 yardsin2020, and Salomonwill be key to gettingthe Yoemen’s offensestarted,butCameron returnsplentyof experienceat

sitionandalotofdepthatthe running backposition,” Rhoades said. “Thebigquestion forusoffensively is who’s going to bethe quarterbackand canhe getthe ball intothehandsoftheguys that we have?”

Quarterbackbecameup for discussion when formerstarter ZaneZeinerttransferred to Rosebud-Lott forhis senior season. Fourplayers will bevying forthe startingspotwith5-foot-11 senior RyanMunizleadingthe pack. JuniorsLandenGreeneand Connor Jeterand sophomoreBraylen Drakealsoareinthehunt.Greene istheonlyonewithtrue varsity experiencebutondefense.

Rhoades saidthewidearray of choicesis what sets this year’s squadapartfrom pastCameron teams, andhebelievesthe group’s inexperience willbeahurdlethe Yoemen overcome together.

“Inthe past, we’vealways had a really goodstartingquarterback,” Rhoades said.“Youdidn’t want to get yourstarterhurt,because you justdidn’thave alotof conﬁdence in your backup. We got fourguys rightnowthatI would feel comfortablewithbeingina football game.”

Defensively, the Yoemenare stackedwith returningleaders, includingmostoftheirstarters playingboth ways Salomonled the teamwith110 tackleslast year, followed by Colton Barbo(98) and Armando Reyes(63).Thetrio alsowill gethelpfrom returners DominickRangel, Ja’KobeBailey, Hunter Hixand Bynaum.

Bynaum saidhe’s excited to see thedefensestepup, especially aftermissing theplayoffslast year.

“Itdoeslightaﬁre. Missing theplayoffsisnot whatanybody should want,” he said.

wide receiveras well. Seniors JavounGoolsbyand Jaidyn Sanchez leadthe receiving corps, followed by juniorPharrell Hemphill,who had over500 total yardslast year, Trayjen Wilcox and sophomore KasonGoolsby.

“I really feellike we’ve got a lotofdepthatthe receiverpo-

Rhoades saidhe’s excited by the chance to turnthings aroundthis season,especiallywith the roster he has.

“Ithinkthe expectation when theyhiredme was to getthe program back to whereit was,” Rhoades said. “AndI take thaton asagreatchallenge. We’re going to do everything we can to getthis program back to whereit was.”

H20 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL

TheEagle

FOOTBALL2021

EAGLE FILEPHOTO

We’reatour best when youare.

There’snoquestion everyoneneedstimetodothe things they love.Sowe extended hours.Becausewe’reatourbestwhenyou can do whatyou love.Tolearn more,visit St-Joseph.org/Services/Primary-Care.

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 H21

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 LaGrange(40-14)

7:30 p.m.

Sept.3 at Taylor (55-21)

7:30 p.m.

Sept.10 Lexington(34-35)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 at Bellville(14-42)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 *McGregor(40-49) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 *at Cameron Yoe(42-9)

Oct. 8*Caldwell(55-26)

Oct. 15 open

Oct. 22 *Academy (44-13) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 29*#Troy (46-38) 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 5 *at Lorena(42-49) 7:30 p.m.

*11-3ADI games;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— Jacob Campsey (6-5overall&at Rockdale)

District— 11-3A-D1

2020 record— 6-5 (4-2 tied for2nd)

2020 playoffs— bi-district: Columbus,15-42

Returninglettermen— 8

(2offensive, 4defensivestarters)

Key returners— QB Kobe Mitchell,sr.(A-D); LB Davioun Scott, sr (A-D); DL Bruce Mayﬁeld, jr.(2nd A-D)

Keylosses— RB Cam’Ron Valdez (11-3AOff.MVP);DL Ty Mayberry (11-3AOutstandingDef.Lineman); WR/DB KeSeanRaven(A-Dboth ways);OLAlexEllison(A-D);DL

ChaseMayﬁeld(A-D);WRAnthony

Dansby(2nd A-D);WRHagen

Land(2nd A-D);TE/LB Christian Briggs (2nd A-Dboth ways); OL

KeymaniHamilton (2nd A-D); LB Cade Pantaleon(2nd A-D);DL

Drayton Castaneda (2nd A-D)

All-time record— 558-470-25

Playoff appearances/record 29(32-27)

Playoff appearances(29)

1958, 1962-63, 1975-77, 1979, 1992-93, 1995, 1997-99, 2002-04, 2007-10, 2012-20

H22

QB Mitchell returns to lead Rockdale

Younger Tigers learning from seniors

Aguilar, Scott and solid juniorclass

ABIGAIL OCHOA abigail.ochoa@theeagle.com

Kobe Mitchellbeganlast seasonasawide receiveranddefensive back for Rockdale, buthis rolequicklychanged when senior quarterback Jace Robinsonbroke hisleginthe seasonopener.Now as Mitchellenters his senior year, the Tigers aregrateful forthe much-needed experiencethey inheritunder center.

“Forus to besuccessfulIthink [Mitchell]has to take ahugerole,” second-yearhead coach Jacob Campsey said.“He’s neverplayed asubvarsity gameinhislife,and with asmall seniorclassand very little experience,he’stheonethat knows howthings go. It’s one of those that we don’t have a whole lotof someonewith Fridaynight experience.”

Mitchellhad over1,700 passing yardsandmorethan30 touchdowns forthe Tigers,who went 6-5 overall and fellinthebi-districtplayoffs to Columbuslast year. It wasanunfortunateending fora squadthathad highhopesenteringthe seasonwith Robinson, running backCam’ron Valdezand wide receiver KeSeanRavenonthe roster.

Losingthattriowillbe tough, butCampsey said2021is farfrom a rebuilding year for Rockdale.

“Wedohave alotofnew faces, butallthose new faces canplay a little football,” Campsey said.“I thinkthere’s certainly going to be alittlebitofalearningcurve early onthose ﬁrst few Fridaynights withshufflingpeoplearoundand learningthespeed,but we really likeour youngkids.”

Campsey saidheplans to move Mitchell aroundthe ﬁeld because ofhisathleticism, whichwill make foradifferentoffensethan years past. Rockdalehasa reliable backupquarterbackin sophomore BladynBarcak, whoalsoplays de-

ROSTER

4RB/MLB/SS DaviounScott, 6-0, 170,sr.;9 QB/WR/CB KobeMitchell, 5-11, 185,sr.;11QB/SS BlaydnBarcak, 6-0, 170, soph.;11WR/CBHagenLand, 5-9, 155; 12 RB/OLB YahirBuentello, 5-5,165;34 MLB Cade Pantaleon, 6-1,210, jr.; 48 TE/C JakeHasselbach,sr.; 53EddieKlekar, 5-9, 220; 62 T Kristian Starnes,sr.; 70 Nic Adams, 5-9, 165; 72 LG/DEGavin Aguilar,sr.; G JoseAboytes,jr.; TristanJackson, 6-1, 225,jr.RB ChrisHuff,sr.;THayden Aguilar,sr.;LaneBell, 5-11,165,jr.; Daniel Romero,5-8, 145; WR/CB Tristan Galvan, 6-2, 150,jr.;WR/OLBScott Penny, jr.;LaneRickman, 6-1, 275,jr.; AidenHirt, 6-2, 165, jr.;TE/OLB Zakori Yanes, 5-9, 169, sr.; Tyler Stewart,jr.; Isaih Sauls, 6-0, 175, soph.;Gerren Marrero,5-7, 133, soph.; Kemar Spencer, soph.;RileySpears, 6-2, 180,soph.;OG/DE Colton Wallace, jr.

fensive back.Seniordefensive end andleftguardGavin Aguilar said Barcakis someone to watchout for.

“There’salotof youngkidsthat youwill get to seeshine,”Aguilar said.

Barcakleadsa sophomoreclass that features receiveranddefensive back Wyatt Windhamand linebackerandrunning back KemarSpencer Thejuniorclassincludes key startersinlinebacker Cade Pantaleon,defensive back Scott Penny and receiver/defensive back TristanGalvan, while Mitchell,defensive back Davioun Scottand Aguilarwill serveasthe senioranchors forthe young team.

“Theseolderkidshave alot of respect forthese youngkids,” Campsey said, “becausetheylive inthe weight roomandthey’ve beenhereallsummerlong.They’ve kindofalreadyearnedthe respect oftheseolderguys, andtheolder guysunderstandtheyhavetocount on these guys to besuccessful.”

Onemajorquestionmark for Rockdalewillbeitsoffensive line, with AguilarandLaneRickman theonly returningstarters.Jake Hasselbachwillhelpat center,but Campsey saiditmight take time forthe Tigers to ﬁndtheirbest lineupon theline.

“It’s going to certainly take both scrimmagesandprobably some games to ﬁgureout exactly what thatis going to looklike, what guy needs to be where,”Campsey said. “They’re all guys thatdon’thave prior experience, so that’s going to bethebiggestprocess we go throughprobably.”

Rockdalewill face a tough gauntletof teamsinDistrict11-3A Division,including regional semiﬁnalistLorena,Cameron,Little River Academy, McGregor,Troy andCaldwell.The Tigers hope to earnanotherplayoff berthand get pastthebi-district round forthe ﬁrsttimesincewinningthestate titlein2017.

“Onemajoraccomplishmentis trying to getthatﬁrstplayoff win inthatﬁrst round,”Aguilar said. “Wehaven’tdoneitsince[2017], and we’retrying to getoutofthat slump, trying to go to that second round and go far.”

AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL

FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

7:30

p.m.

7:30

p.m.

CASSIE STRICKER, THE EAGLE Left guardanddefensiveendGavin Aguilarisback forhis senior seasonat Rockdale.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 at Wallis-Brazos(21-15)

7 p.m.

Sept.3Somerville(34-7)

7 p.m.

Sept.10atBlanco(9-34)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 #Trinity (12-14)

7 p.m.

Sept. 24 *Warren(13-12)

7 p.m.

Oct. 1 *atNewton(0-62)

7 p.m.

Oct. 8*Hemphill (8-14)

7 p.m.

Oct. 15 *at Corrigan-Camden (6-0)7 p.m.

Oct. 22*Kountze(42-0)7 p.m.

Oct. 29 open

Nov. 5 *atNew Waverly(26-18)

7 p.m.

*10-3ADII games; #Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— BradHodges (20-22 overall;20-22at

Anderson-Shiro)

Assistant coaches— defensive coordinatorBill Cowley,offensive coordinator RobertJackson,specialteams coordinatorJustin Herbert, SamMcGee,Jeffery Trant, MasonJarrell, KevinMacik

District— 12-3A-DII

2020 record— 6-5 (4-2, tied for2nd)

2020 playoffs— bi-district: Hughes Springs, 26-34

Returninglettermen— 18 (5offensive, 7 defensivestarters)

Key returners— LB/DEMartavionOffing,sr.(A-D);NT Cameron Klawinsky,sr.(2nd A-D);OG Brayden Adair,jr.(2nd A-D)

Key losses— WR Cadarrius Williams(A-D,2nd A-DatS); DE Celvin Adair(A-D);LB Landon Stern (A-D,2ndatFB);PGraysonMoody (A-D);QB Cole Warner(2nd A-D); DT ZaneMoriarty(2nd A-D);OLB TannerGoudeau (2nd A-D);CB Ryan Wisnoski(2nd A-D)

All-time record— 37-54

Playoff appearances/record — 5(0-5)

Playoff appearances(5) 2013, ‘15, ‘18, ‘19, ‘20

Owls eyeing ﬂight path pastbi-district

Strong defense part of Anderson-Shiro’s winning tradition

ROBERT CESSNA robert.cessna@theeagle.com

Anderson-Shiro keepsmoving forward,onerun anda tackleat a time.Thebudding program would loveto capitsﬁrstdecadeofhigh school footballwithaplayoff victory.

“We keep gettingbetter every year,” seniorMartavionOffing said.“We keepmakingtheﬁrst round,butnow we want to get pastthat.”

The Owls cameclose last year, losing to HughesSprings34-26in theClass3ADivisionIIplayoffs. It wasa vastimprovement overits ﬁrstquartetofbi-district gamesin whichthey were outscored214-39.

“We’rereallyproudof what we’vebuilthereand where we’ve comefromsincethetime we took over,” ﬁfth-yearhead coachBrad Hodges said. “Andthat’s a testament to ourkidsbuyingintoour coachingstaff. We’re reallyproud oftheculture we’ve createdhere.”

Anderson-Shiro waswinlessin Hodges’first seasonontheheels ofa 1-9 season. Butin two years the Owlsclimbed to 8-3behind 2,000-yard rusherZacarrius Haynesand fiveotherall-district performers. Theyalso were competitive inan18-0bi-district loss to eventual regionalfinalist Daingerfield. Despitelosingthose key performers, the Owlsfinished inathree-waytie for secondin District12-3A-IIlast seasonwith Hemphilland New Waverly at4-2 behindstate-rankedGroveton.

“We’ve becomea respectable

ROSTER

1QB/DB Ty Sechelski, soph.;2QB/DLJordan Coronado,soph.;3WR/CB Peyton Binford,sr.;4RB/DLJarvisHaynes,soph.;9WR/CBJacob Borski, jr.;15WR/DBBrant Werner,jr.; 20 WR/LB PedroMartinez, soph.;25WR/ DL Auston Cooper,sr.;30RB/DL Kevin Cabrera,soph.; 32 OL/DL Will Lee, soph.;34HB/LBAndreNguyen,soph.;50OL/DL WilliamBagley, soph.; 52 OL/DLBraden Adair,jr.; 54 OL/DL Evan Moody,sr.;55OL/DL TravisAnderson, jr.; 56OL/LB LeviJones,jr.;60OB/LBSethBenton,sr.;61OL/DL Cobi Wright, jr;65OL/LBDuncanBenton,sr.;66OL/DL Louis Leggett, sr.; 70 OL/DL Camren Klawinsky, sr.; 74 OL/DL TuckerBackhus,sr.; 78 OL/DL TylerMartin,sr.; 88TE/LB MartavionOffing, sr.

programand garneredalittleattention,” Hodges said.“Now we’re ready to take thatnextstepand become oneofthe teamsthat’s talkedabout yearinand yearout competing forchampionships.”

OptimismishighdespiteAnderson-Shiroreturningonly ﬁve starters each way.

“We’rereplacingalot,butthe excitingthingis we’ve got some youngguys that we think can reallystepupandﬁllthe rolesof some key contributors,” Hodges said.

Offingand 190-pound sophomore JarvisHayneswillbethe featuredrunning backs.

“We’re alwaysgoing to want to run the football,” Hodges said. “We’llthrow alittlebit,but we want to kindofopenthatupwith ourrunning game. We’re going to try to put youina coupledifferent formationsandmake youlineup to what we’ve got to doandthrow alotofdifferentlooks at yourunningthe ball.”

Anderson-Shirorunsoutof a spread formation,buttheemphasisisontherun with theattacksimilar to what Auburn ran thelast eight seasonsunderGus Malzahn.The Owls’groundattack isfueled byfour returningstarters ontheline.

“We’ve had really goodrunning backs forthe past few years,” seniorDuncan Benton said.“Our quarterback [Cole Werner]has been really good. He justgraduatedlast year, but we area very physical team. We like getting handson youand gettingdown anddirty.”

Sophomore Jordan Coronado stepsin for Werner, a secondteamall-districtplayer.

“Our wholementalityisour quarterbackhas to be No. 1[priority],” Benton said.“Wehaveto makesurehedoesn’t gethit, so he hastime to do whateverheneeds to do,whetherit’s handoff or throw itdownﬁeld.”

Anderson’sdefenseisspearheaded byOffing, who earned all-districthonors.Nose tackle CameronKlawinskyandoutside linebacker TannerGoudeau were second-team selections.

“Thedefensive linehasalways beenastrongsuit forus,” Hodges said. “Brayden Adairisanother one whose brotherhasjustgraduatedand reallyputup somebig numbers forusonthedefensive line, andIthinkhe’s going to ﬁt rightintohis footsteps.”

Andersonrunsa4-3 scheme.

“IthinkMartavionOffingis going to beprettyspecial forusat

free safety,” Hodges said. “Seth andDuncan Bentonare going to be linebackers forus Theyarebrothers whoare realphysicalkids, hard hitters, very smart,always around the ball.”

Anderson-Shirohashadnine shutoutsduringitsthree-year playoff run.

“Weareattacking,” Hodges said. “Wealways playaphysical style. We’ve reallyhungourhat ondefense. We take pride inthe numberofshutouts we’veputup andholdingoffensesdown to their seasonlows. We have agreatdefensive coordinatorinBill Cowleyandthe jobhe’sdone.The kidsbuyintohim. We getafterit on defense.”

Anderson-Shiro has fewplayers whocanfocusonjustoneposition.

“A lotare goingboth ways, alot ofironmen,” Hodges said. “You dotry to limita fewguys hereand there,butattheendoftheday, we try to getourbest11outthereon theﬁeld,andourkidsknowthat they’regoing to rise to thechallengeandgive us everythingthey got.”

NOTES— Anderson-Shiro’s enrollmentof 272 ranksﬁfthinthe district,aheadofonly Hemphill(263)and Corrigan-Camden (245).... “If we can getourspeed andourenduranceupalittlebit, I feellike we’ll go deeperinthe playoffs,” Benton said....The Owlsarepicked fourthinthe district by DaveCampbell’s Texas Football behind Newton, New Waverly and Hemphill....Outside linebacker TannerGoudeau and Seth Benton bothsufferedbrokenlegsinlast year’sbi-district game.The recovery for Benton, whobrokehis femur, has“gone amazingly,” Hodges said.

H24 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

Lions bent on ﬁnishing state run

Franklin loaded for another shot at school’s ﬁrst title

ALEX MILLER alex.miller@theeagle.com

Franklin’smantraisstill“164,” whichdenotesthenumberofmiles fromthehigh school to AT&TStadiuminArlington—homeofthe state footballchampionships. But head coachMark Fannin saidthe Lionsareaddinganewline to the team saying for2021. Finish.

TheLions cameoh so close to bringinghometheprogram’sﬁrst statechampionshiplast season but fell to Canadian 35-34inthe Class3ADivisionIItitle game.

“Welook back to that game, 35-34, it’s hard,” Franklin senior MalcolmMurphy said.“Youdon’t want to lose by one. You go into the gamelikethat,it’s ablowout or youjustwin.Ithurts when you fallonepointshort, so thatjust motivatesus to workevenharder to getthe jobdonethis year.”

Experience,depth, and talent bolster Franklin’schancesofmakinganotherrunatastatetitlethis fall.Aftergraduatingjusteight seniorsin2020, theLions return ninestartersonoffenseandeight ondefense.

“Itiskindofunusual.I’ve been heresince2007, andI can’t rememberatime when we’rebringing backthismany,” Fannin said. “We’ve gotnineonoffense coming backandeightondefense.And those nineoreight,they’ve been playingsinceeithertheirfreshman yearor sophomore year, so they’ve gotalotof experienceon Fridaynight.”

Last year’srun combinedwith their returningpersonnel earned theLionsthe No.1 rankingin Dave Campbell’s Texas Football’s preseason3A-IIpoll.Murphy saidhe feelsnopressurewiththe ranking; ifanything,theLions expectit.

“That No. 1meansnothing to us,” Murphy said.“We camein knowing we shouldbe No. 1,and we’ve gotitrightnow. Itjustputs

FACTS

Head coach— Mark Fannin(12-3 overall & at Franklin)

Assistant coaches— WillHedrick, MatthewAnderson,JayceRasberry, TerryMaxwell, Don Miller, Daniel Brewer, JakeRuss, ZachLierman, JacobWhite,BenGallego, Robert Shiﬂett, Jordan Lyle,JustinBeasley

District— 13-3A-DII

2020 record — 12-3 (6-0,1st)

2020playoffs— bi-district: Van Vleck,58-19;area: Natalia, 49-20; regionals: Lexington,40-7; state quarterfinals:Buffalo,56-33;state semifinals: Waskom, 14-13;finals: Canadian,34-35

Returning lettermen— 24 (9 offensive, 8defensivestarters)

Key returners— RB/DBBryson Washington,jr.(Co-13-3AMVP);LB

Haze Tomascik(A-D),sr. (13-3ADef POY); TE/OT Braden Smith,soph. (13-3A NOY); QB Marcus Wade,sr.

an evenbigger targetonour back foranybodythat’s coming to play us.”

SeniorquarterbackMarcus

Wade returnsasa second-year starter He hadkneesurgery after sufferinganinjuryduring basketball seasonbutis backatfull health.Wade saidhe’sbeen work-

atlinebackerafter tallying 169 tackleslast season,andkickerand linebacker SethShamblinalsois back.Shamblinmissed what was ultimatelythedecisive extrapoint inthestatetitle game,but Fannin saidithasmotivatedShamblin, whohasn’t forgottenaboutit,either.

“Istillthinkaboutitallthe time,”Shamblin said.“That’s why I comeuphere everydayandkick 75 ﬁeld goalsaday.”

Shamblin saidtheLionshave been workingonimprovingtheir pass defensethisoffseason. Fanninnoted Franklin’s 7-on-7 season gave the team valuablepracticeat coveringthe pass.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 at Lorena(20-21)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 3 Hearne(DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 at Cameron Yoe(8-37)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 Troy (42-27) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 *at Lexington(49-14)

7:30pm.

Oct. 1*Riesel(63-21) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 8 *at Rogers(52-35)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 15*#Florence(63-6)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 *at Buffalo(69-38)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 29*Clifton (47-0) 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 5 open

*13-3A-DII games;#Homecoming

(A-D);OL Russell Stegall,sr.(A-D); RB/DBMalcolmMurphy, sr. (A-D); OLBSethShamblin,sr.(A-D);DL Jacob Catalina,sr.(2nd A-D); WR HaydenHelton,sr.(2nd A-D);OL CodyOwensm sr.(2nd A-D);OL CharlieScarpinato,sr.(2nd A-D); DL LuisMunoz, sr.(2nd A-D);RB Bobby Washington,sr. (2nd A-D);DB DevynHidrogo,soph.(2nd A-D);LB

Brayden Youree,soph. (2nd A-D)

Key losses— RBSethSpiller(Co13-3AMVP);OL Keegan Wilson(AD); DL Ashton Ferguson(A-D); DB NickHrncir(A-D)

All-time record— 590-382-37

Playoff appearances/record 33 (40-32-1)

Playoff appearances(33)— 1951, 1953, 1955, 1961, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1977-79, 1983-84, 1986, 1988, 1996-98, 2003, 2007-20

ing to improvehis readsandarm strengththisoffseason.

Surrounding Wadeonoffense areMurphy, Bryson and Bobby Washington,Hayden Heltonand BradenSmith.Thestar-studded castprovidesaplethoraofoptions for Franklin to turn to.

SeniorHaze Tomascik returns

“Personally, my philosophyis stoptherunﬁrst,and we’vebeen pretty goodatstoppingtherun,” Fannin said. “Asa coachingstaff, we kind of satdownand talked about what we needed to improveon,and coveringthe pass is something we needed towork on andputalittlemoreemphasison. That’s what we’vebeendoing.”

Franklin’snondistrictslate proveschallenging yetagainwith road gamesagainstLorenaand Cameron sandwichedarounda Week2homeopener vs. Hearne. TheLionsalsowilltravel to 13-3AII contendersLexingtonandBuffalo, andlikelast season,might haveto beattheEaglesandBison againintheplayoffs to booka returntrip to Arlington.

Perchedabove Fannin’sdeskon ashelf restslast year’sstaterunner-uptrophy. Replacingitwith oneplatedin gold wouldnotonly meanalot to theLions’program buttheentire townof Franklin, too.

“If we could ever getthatﬁrst championshipandbringit back to this town,that wouldjustbe amazing,”Fannin said.“It’s somethingthatthis townandthisprogramhasbeen so close to so many times, andjust to bringthatpiece backandbringthat gold back wouldbejustamazing,notonly forthis footballprogrambut for this whole communitythat backs this football team weekinand weekout.”

ROSTER

1FB/OLBJaydenJackson,fr.; 2 FB/LBBrayden Youree,soph.; 3TE/DLBradenSmith,soph.; 4 WR/FSHaydenHelton,sr.; 5 QB/ CBMarcus Wade, sr.; 6TB/CB Darren Daugherty,sr.;7FB/OLB SethShamblin,sr.; 8 TB/CBDevyn Hidrogo,soph.;10TB/FS Fragiel Owens,jr.;11HB/OLBLanden Lorenz,jr.;12FB/LBBobby Washington,sr.;15HB/FSBryson Washington, jr.; 16 QB/FSCort Lowry, soph.;20HB/CBBraylonLattimore, soph.; 24 TB/CBMalcolm Murphy, sr.;25HB/DL ParkerBoyett, sr.;30 WR/CB Colton Payne, sr.;31 WR/OLBHaze Tomascik, sr.;32 HB/LB ColbySmith,soph.; 33 FB/LBJacobSmith,jr.;34HB/ LB IkeEaton,jr.; 35 FB/OLB Cole Brantner,jr.;38TB/CB KyleMedders,sr.; 40 FB/LBSammy Davis, sr.;44 HB/OLB EthanSaxon,sr.; 50OL/LB ColtonMedders,jr.;51 OL/LBMajor Kimbrough,soph.; 52 OL/LB CodyOwens,sr.;55OL/ DL CharlieScarpinato, sr.;58TE/ DL Cameron Zamora,soph.;62 OL/DLEJDoakes,sr.; 63 OL/DL Quade Lopez, jr.;65OL/DL Luis Munoz, sr.; 70 OL/DL Russell Stegall,sr.;72OL/DLRyanMcCarver, sr.; 74 OL/DL Trent Ellison,jr.;75 OL/DLAndrewElmore, jr.;77OL/ DL AndrewNarro, soph.;81OL/ DL JensenPils,sr.; 82 OL/DLDean Rampy, jr.

H25

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 EAGLE FILEPHOTO FranklinquarterbackMarcus Wade,right, lookstothrow against Canadian in the Class 3A DivisionIIstatechampionship gameat AT&T Stadiumin ArlingtononDec. 17,2020.

H26 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle GOODLUCK THISSEASON! 3840 CORPORATECENTERDR. •B-CS 979.774.3900 RODNEYHURT ‘77 •BRADLEYHURT’00 NICKLUTZ •RYANCARR •GARYGRIFFIN DONNA PBEELER •KATHYLANGSTON‘04 JOHNTHAMES •RICKYGREER ANGIEDEAN •KACEYBOURKE serviceinsgroup.com

Eagles primed for another playoff run

Kerr’s athleticism sets tone for Lexington on both sides of the ball

ALEX MILLER alex.miller@theeagle.com

Kirk Muhl saidit wasn’t hard to notice Jarred Kerr whenheplayed Pee Wee football.

Nowasahigh school senior andtheEagles’ topplayer, Kerr has caughttheattentionofmore thanjustMuhl. Kerr wasanallstate selectionin2020, racking up117 tacklesandthreeinterceptions whileaccounting for20 total touchdownsonoffense.

“He’sadifferentlevel typeof athletejustwithhis ballskillsand his ball sense,andthenhe’llstrike youon topofit,” Muhl said.“That mentalitytranslates to alotofour kids. We mightnotlooklikethe greatest athletesoutthere, but they’re toughkids, and Jarredjust takesit to anotherlevel,becauseof hisathleticism.”

OriginallyfromClearwater, Florida,Kerr saidhestartedplayingﬂag footballattheageof 3. He moved to Lexingtoninthe fourth gradeafterhis father passed away when he was 8 yearsold.

Kerr saidhehadbig gamesin middle schoolbut keptahumble attitudeabouthisabilitiessince heplayedatasmaller school. He made varsityas afreshmanbuthad his seasoncutshortafter tearing his ACLin thethirdgame ofthe year.Kerr saidtheinjurychanged hismindsetandoutlookon football.Asa sophomore, Kerr was namedDistrict8-3A-IIMVPdespiteplayinginonly seven games after waiting to beruledeligible by theUIL.

“I would sayonceIstartedplaying select [7-on-7] and started gettingoutthereagainst all ofthe otherD-I recruitsandstarteddoing whatIdo, that’s whenI really knewIhad whatit took,”Kerr said.

Scholarshipoffersbegan rolling in for KerrinMarch2020. Baylor wastheﬁrst school tooffer Kerr a scholarship, followed by Oklahoma, Texas,Notre Dameand Florida TexasA&Moffered Kerr a

ROSTER

Daylon Washington, jr.; 10 Colton Faske, sr.;11Javier Casiano,sr.;12 Sheldon Springer,sr.; 14 Da’Qualyn Williams,sr.;15PrestonMcMillan,jr.; 17 KasonBayer, sr.;18 ZanderHartranft, jr.;20Devin Jackson,sr.;21Joseph Kerr,fr.; 22 Cole Huddleston,sr.; 24 Evan Patschke, sr.; 45GarrettGerdes, jr.;51Isaiah Washington,sr.;54 Koleten Claxton,jr.; 55 ZachWhite,sr.; 57 PanchoNava,jr.;60 Zack Carter,fr.;62 Zane Conder,soph.; 63 Matthew Ortiz,fr.;65 Steven Kellenberger,jr.;72 Adam Kieschnick, soph.;75Jaycen Meurer,jr.

scholarshipafterastrongperformanceinLexington’s2020seasonopening win over West.

In June, Kerrannouncedhis commitment to the Aggies. A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko, who coachesthe Aggies’ safeties, led Kerr’s recruitment.Kerr said he andElko talk weeklyand addedhe willplay safety atA&Mand feels thatisthepositionhe canbehim-

thatplaying 7-on-7helpedhim work onhis coverage skills.Kerr saidhe feelsLexington’s safeties areastrengthoftheEagledefense. Kerr’s fellow safety, seniorCaden Huckabay, notedhow valuable Kerris to Lexington.

“Hemakesthings way easier thanthey shouldbe,” Huckabay said. “You can put two [defenders] overhim whenhe’sa receiver, andthen youopentheotherside ofthe ﬁeld for somebodyelse.And defense,Imean,I really wouldn’t want to run the ball to himeither He ﬁllsthose gaps pretty goodand makesitbetter forotherpeople to gogeta tackle.He’s a teamplayer.”

Alongside Kerrarea castofskill players Muhlishighon. Daylon Washingtonwillplayslot receiverwithKasonBayerand Evan Patschkemanningoutside receiver. Devin Jacksonis expected to beLexington’sstartingrunning back.Muhl saidhehopesthat group canhelptheEaglesspring morebigplays this fall.

“Oneofourstrengthsis going to beathleticismintheopenﬁeld,” Muhl said.“Ithink we have some key piecesthat getusoutthere, andif we can getthe ball to them intheopenﬁeld, they canmake some plays happen.”

SeniorSheldonSpringer returns forhis fourth seasonasLexington’s startingquarterback.Muhl said hehas tailoredtheEagles’offense some to suitSpringermore.

“I’mhopingthathismaturity and him beingalittleolderis going to helpus getintothatoffenseand do well withit,” Muhl said.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 at West(25-14)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 3 Thrall(35-6)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 at Rockdale(35-34)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 Marlin(DNP)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 *Franklin (14-49)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 open

Oct. 8 *atRiesel(42-7)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 15*#Rogers(27-33)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 *atFlorence(13-7)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 29*Buffalo(37-38)

7:30 p.m.

Nov. 5 *at Clifton(47-12)

7:30 p.m.

*13-3A-DII games;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— KirkMuhl (55-40 overall&at Lexington)

Assistant coaches— Chris Koester,B.L. Miller, Courtney Ward, KoganGarrett, GarrettSherrill, DanielBall, Rodney Patshcke.

District— 13-3A-DII

2020 record — 8-4 (3-3,4th)

2020 playoffs— bi-district: East Bernard, 7-0;area: Taft, 28-0; regionals: Franklin, 7-40

Returninglettermen— (7offensive, 6defensivestarters)

self the most.

“I feltliketheyhadmeasapriority,”Kerr said.“Theystayedin contactalot,andif youlook at their safeties, bothofthemare supposed to be draftedafterthis year, so youlookatstuff likethat andthink you candothat.”

Overtheoffseason, Kerr saidhe workedonimprovingdropping backinto passcoverage, adding

Lexingtonhasbeen fortunate to still be playing footballonThanksgiving forthe past five years, Muhl said, and theEagles’ goalin2021 remainsthe same—makeadeep postseasonrun.This year,though, Lexingtonishopingit can get past the regional semifinals forthefirst timesince2016.

“Withourkids, we preachwinningand we preachwinninginthe playoffs,” Muhl said.“Idon’t care howmanywins we have coming intodistrictor comingintothe playoffs, it’s aboutwinningplayoff football games forus, andour kids know that.”

Key returners— FS Jared Kerr, sr.(A-D0;OL/DE KadenSchimank, sr.(A-D);QBSheldon Springer,sr (2nd A-D)

Keylosses— LBJeremiahDillon (A-D); LB Ty Hawley (A-D);OL/DL JuanLara(2nd A-D); WRJeremiah Jackson(2nd A-D);OL Jacob Poston(2nd A-D)

All-time record 441-447-26

Playoff appearances/record— 21 (38-21)

Playoff appearances(21) 1964, 1968, 1978, 1997, 1999, 2002-07, 2009-12,2015-20

TheEagle

H27

AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021

1GarretSchneider,jr.;2 Keith Wolridge, soph.; 3 Jarred Kerr,sr.; 4 Garrett Keeling,jr.; 5 C.J. McFarlin,soph.;6 CadenHuckabay, sr.;7 LaneMagnuson, jr.;9 CASSIE STRICKER, THE EAGLE KasonBayeris a keycontributer forthe Lexington Eaglesat wide receiver.

H28 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle Servingthe“BestBigBurgerin Town”for29years! 11777Wellbornrd •(979)764-2933 3940Harveyrd •(979)776-2833 WWW.KOPPEBRIDGE.COM KoPPebrIdGebar &GrIll BESTBURGER andFRENCHFRIES BEST BURGER THANKYOU FORVOTINGUS 2021

Tigers more experienced in 2021

Hancock back from injury for Centerville

ALEX MILLER alex.miller@theeagle.com

Centerville’s PaxtonHancock brokeleftona53leadplayatBremondlast Septemberbutdidn’t seethe cornerback coming.

Hancock saidheplantedhis foot,and whenthedefender made contact, it left Hancock withabroken femurrightabove theknee. Twodays later, Hancock hadsurgery atSt. Joseph Hospital inBryan.

NowHancockis backatfull strengthas Centerville counts downthedays untilkickoff, but the road to recovery waslong.

“Iguessjustsittingin my room fornearsixmonths really mademe actually see whoI wasandactually striveto bebetter, to be myself,” Hancock said.

Thesurgery requiredHancock towearabracethatstretched to the topofhisthigh,andattimes heuseda wheelchairbeforehe was able to walkagain.

Inthespring,Hancock was able to participatein some 7-on-7 drills. Hesaidbeingable to get backontheﬁeld gave himbutterﬂies.

“It felt weird,” Hancock said.“I don’tknowhow to describeit,the feeling...it was somethingelse.”

While rehabbing,Hancock saidhe workedwithatrainer to improvehis takeoff. He addedhe thinkshe’s come back faster, too. Hancock saidoneofhis coaches continued to remindhimofthe Proverbthat says “Ironsharpens ironasmansharpensman.”

“It wasaslowprocess, but Paxtonmadethemostofit,” Centervillehead coach KyleHardee said.“He’s coming backabout 15 poundsheavier. He’s coming back fasterthanpre-injury. He took advantageoftheopportunity to improvehimselfphysicallyand workedhardatit.I couldn’tbe prouderofthe wayhe worked to get back.”

Ona teamknow forits toughness,Hancockisanxious to return

to theﬁeldon Fridaynights.

“I’mnotnervous to beoutthere ontheﬁeld.I’mjustnervous to try to show my talentagain,”Hancock said.“It’s going to begreat.HopefullyI can get my bearingsinand actually realize how easy itis.”

Hancock,ajuniorfullbackand middlelinebacker, isaleaderon whatisstilla relatively young Centerville squad.Last season, the Tigers started ﬁvefreshmen, andHardee saidhehopeslast year’s experiencewill payoff for the sophomore-heavy team.

“A kid canbephysically ready, butthequestionisasa 14-yearoldaretheymentally ready to makethatjump?Last year, we feltlikethose kids were andthat they could competeatthatlevel,” Hardee said.“This year, they’ll comeinandthey won’thaveto makethatadjustment to thespeed ofthe game.They’ve already been outthere and playedit.We gotbeat intheﬁrst round,but wewere able to advance to theplayoffslast year, so they got someplayoff experienceundertheirbelt.They were able to have some experiencesas

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021

freshmenthat we thinkwillhelp grow themup, and we’llbebetter foritthis year we hope.”

Optionsaboundinthe backﬁeld anddepthisplentiful forthe Tigers, Hardee said.

WhenHancock wentdown, Halston Frenchsteppedintothe startingfullback role. Hardee said he expects French, now a sophomore, to play severalpositionson offense.LaVodrickPhillips began the seasondownthedepthchart butbecame Centerville’sstarting tailback by districtplayand rushed foralmost 700 yards.SeniorAngel Villarrealhasadded weight,Hardee said,and sophomoreAndrewNewman returnsafteraninjurycutshortapromising start to his season last fall.

SeniorSully Hillhas taken over as Centerville’sstartingquarterbackafter servingasthe Tigers’ backupin2020.SophomoreRiley Winklerhaschallenged forthe spotafter servingas Centerville’s JVquarterbacklast season.

Ondefense,Hardee saidhe feels the Tigers’ linewillbeimproved andhave moredepth.Inthe sec-

SCHEDULE

(Lastyear’s resultin parentheses)

Aug. 27 New Waverly(12-34)

7:30 p.m.

Sept.3 Corrigan-Camden(42-0)

7:30 p.m.

Sept.10atThorndale(30-14)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 at Palestine Westwood (36-10) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 #Bremond(36-32)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 open

Oct. 8 *at Alto (34-24)

7 p.m.

Oct. 15*Groveton(26-20)

7 p.m.

Oct. 22 *atGrapeland(38-34)

7 p.m.

Oct. 29 *atNormangee(26-56)

7 p.m.

Nov. 5 *Leon *11-2ADI games;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— KyleHardee (111-74 overall& at Centerville)

District— 11-2ADivisionI

ondary, Hardeenoted Centerville has experiencebutwillmixin some youngerplayers, too.

“Webring back BJ Kelly, who willbe a senior. He’s beenastarter forthelast two yearsontheD-line andbeen a good footballplayer for us,” Hardee said.“We’rebringing backZantayl Holley, whostarted forusasafreshman.James Bodine has good experienceonthatdefensive line.I feellikeprobably ourstrengthrightnowas faras experienceandspeed goesisat linebacker. You’ve got Paxtonand Halstonandthenontheoutside you’ve gotAngel Villarrealand Cameron Pate. Those guys have some experience,havealotof gamesundertheirbelt.”

Centerville eyes reachingthe playoffs foran11th consecutive season, and Bodine saidit’s important to have players work hard to reachthe Tigers’ aspirations.

“If we can getguys boughtin, we’re going to beatalevel we want to be, competing foradistrict championship,”Bodine said.“And theultimate goalis to be competing fora regionalchampionship.”

2020 record— 7-4 (3-2,tied for2nd)

2020 playoffs— bi-district: Holland,20-28

Returninglettermen— 19 (7offensive, 8defensivestarters)

Key returners—LaVodrickPhillips (Co-11-2ANOY);OL/DL BJ Kelly, sr.(A-Dboth ways);OL James Bodine,sr.(2nd A-D);TE Cameron Pate(2nd A-D);FBHalston French (2nd A-D);LBAngel Villarreal,sr. (2nd A-D)

Keylosses— RBDillonDenman (Co-11-2AOff.MVP);OLJabez Fills (A-D);QBBrant Roberts(A-D);LB ClaytonBell(A-D);OL Harrison Hobb(2nd A-D);DB CodyMorgan (2nd A-D)

All-time record 398-445-20

Playoff appearances/record — 20(21-20-0)

Playoff appearances(20) 1964-66, 1969, 1993,2000-03, 2007, 2011-20

H29

CASSIE STRICKER, THE EAGLE Centerville footballplayers SullyHill,fromleft, James Bodine, Cameron Pate, Zach Taylor,Dude West and Paxton Hancockareaimingto lead the Tigerstoan11thstraightplayoff appearancethisseason.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 at Rosebud-Lott (49-34) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 3 Dawson(34-55) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 atSomerville (30-29) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 #Bruceville-Eddy (DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 *at Cayuga (DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 open

Oct. 8*Normangee(16-47)

7 p.m.

Oct. 15 *Alto(30-8)7 p.m.

Oct. 22 *atGroveton(14-22)

7 p.m.

Oct. 29*Grapeland(30-8)7 p.m.

Nov. 5 *at Centerville (44-14)7 p.m.

*11-2ADI games;#Homecoming

Leon facts

Head coach— Jeremy Colvert (29-27 overall&at Leon)

Assistant coaches— JesseHouse, RobertGail,Matt Kirschner,Aaron

Wright, Jim O’Neal

District 11-2A DivisionI

2020 record— 7-4 (3-2,tied for2nd)

2020playoffs— bi-district: Thorndale, 40-34;area: Timpson, 14-47

Returninglettermen— 10 (5offensive, 5defensivestarters)

Key returners— DLMyles

Mendoza (A-D);

RB/LB LuisGuillen,sr.(2nd A-D both ways);OL Trey Weiler,sr. (2nd A-D);WR TitoGonzalez, sr (2nd A-D)

Keylosses— DB Tyson Cornett (Co-11-2ADef.MVP);Nick Leggett (11-2ADef. NOY);QB/LBJacob

Robinson(A-Dboth ways);WR/DB

Tyler Kirschner (A-DatWR, 2ndat DB);WR LoganNoey(A-D);OL/DL

Jose Rodriguez (A-Dboth ways); DL/OL Cody Williams(A-DatDL, 2nd atOL)

Leon hopes to keep improving in 2021

Bumpers set to take over at quarterback

TRAVIS L. BROWN travis.brown@theeagle.com

Creatingpositive expectations surroundingtheLeon football team— save fora few select seasons— can feellikeanuphill battle forhead coach Jeremy Colvert.

Last season,the Cougars went 3-2inDistrict11-2ADivisionI and 7-4 overall, feeling somevindication over provingthedoubters wrong.

“That’s kindofbeentheM.O. we’ve facedhere forthelast five or six years,” Colvert said. “We hadone good squad backin2016 that everybodyknew was going to be good.Thenafterthatit was likethe expectations wentoutthe window.Soevery year we’re fightingtheother coachesinourdistrict. We’re fighting DaveCampbell’s [Texas Football],and we’re fighting even some ofour communitymembersas farasthenot believing what we cando.”

Several key players fromlast year’splayoff runhave graduated, leaving Texas Football to predict the Cougarswill ﬁnish ﬁfthinthe six-teamdistrict.But Colvert said theprogramhaslearned to thrive onitsunderdogmentality.

“I feellikeit’s likethat every year,” wide receiver Tito Gonzalez said.“We get countedout. Ourmottois‘shockthe world,’ andthat’s justkindof what we do.”

The Cougarsmust replace record-settingquarterback Jacob Robinson, whothrew for2,789 yardsand31 touchdownslast season,andhis top target Tyson Cornett, who caught 74 passes for 1,136 yardsand11 touchdownsand rushed for605 yardsandnineTDs.

ROSTER

2RB/DBJoseMonsibais,sr.;4 QB/LBBrockBumpurs,soph.; 5 WR/DB Taylor Evans, soph.;7WR/LBAnthonyHaney, sr.;8WR/DBNoahSchrank, soph.;10WR/DB TitoGonzalez, sr.;11TE/DE MylesMendoza, sr.; 12WR/ DB Tyler Stevens,soph.; 14 TE/DBNatePedigo,jr.;15RB/LB LuisGuillen, sr.;18 WR/DL Elliot Traywick, soph.; 22 WR/DBJairo Rodriguez, sr.;32 WR/ DBGannen Wise,soph.;48TE/LBGavin Taylor,fr.;50OL/DLBeaux Kelley, jr.;51OL/DL Trevor Carrington,soph.;52OL/LB KestonJohnson,soph.; 54 OL/DL Trey Weiler, sr.; 55OL/DL AaronGraham, jr.; 56OL/DL Callen Shrode, sr.; 64OL/DL JoshAnderson,jr.;65OL/DLShawnPowell,soph.; 68 OL/DLUlises Dominguez, soph.; 70 OL/DLJaxson Swallow, fr.;75OL/DL JuanGonzalez, soph.;77OL/DLSonny Van Kampen,soph.

time. We’re going to looka whole lotdifferentthis yearthan we have inthe past.What we do, how we callthingsandthe systemdoesn’t change, but we’re going to try to adjust to ﬁtourpersonnel.”

Gonzalezisthatskillplayer taskedasthe veteran voice forthe offense.Last season,he caught 47 passes for 475 yardsand four touchdowns.

“You’ve just got to buildchemistrywiththenewguy comingup, BryceBumpers,” Gonzalez said. “I feellikehe’s gota goodarmon him,andhe’s really going to step up.”

He is also joined by senior running backLuisGuillen, who rushed for312 yardsandthree touchdownslast season.

Vocalleadershipis wherethe pairwillneed to makethemost stridesheadingintothe season, a tasktheyhave already begun to take on.

“Welostalotofpeopleandalot ofmainpeople,butmostofusare going to ﬁll someshoesand keep it going,” Guillen said.

Defensively, both Robinson and Cornett pacedthe Cougars in tackleslast season,anditwill beup to GonzalezandGuillen again to makeupthedifference. At defensive backandlinebacker, respectively, the pair combined for 132 tackles Guillen recorded six tackles forloss. Theywillalso have helpfrom senior Myles Mendoza,whohad5½ sackslast year. The experienceliesinthefront seven, whilethe secondarywill have somequickgrowingup to do, Colvert said.

mobileandhe can scrambleoutof the pocketifheneeds to andmake plays,” Gonzalez said.

All-time record— 272-307-11

Playoff appearances/record — 17 (7-17)

Playoff appearances(17)— 198283, 1985, 1987, 1992, 1998-99, 2000,2003, 2005,2009-10,2014, 2016,2019-20

Leonhasa wave of sophomores who could take over ﬁveto six startingpositionson eachsideof the ball,Colvert said,andheadliningtheclassisquarterbackBrock Bumpers.Bumpersdidnotthrow a pass last season,butGonzalez said he seesalotofthe samequalities that Robinsonpossessedinhispositionalheir.

“BrockBumpersisalittlebit

Bumpershasbeenintheprogramsincehe wasa seventh grader,whichalsogiveshim some familiaritywiththe pass-heavy, spread systemthat Colvertruns Butwithnewpersonnel,theoffensemayskew abitmore to the runthis year.

“Wedo considerourselvesabit moreadvancedin passing forour level,butontheothersideofthat, we alsoknowthat we haveto have the castthat can receivethe ball, and we’ve got to have theguys that canthrow it,” Colvert said.“This year, we are young. We don’thave alotofskillkids. We onlyhave one returningskillkidfromlast yearthat sawanysizableplaying

Each season, Colvert sets the goalofmakingtheplayoffs.As was the case last season,the Cougars must rollthroughdistrictpowers Normangeeand Centerville to have a goodshotat returning to thepostseason.

“Last yearit was real, realimportant to beat Centerville,” Guillen said.“It felt good.Theyusuallybeatusmostofthetime,but last year we kindofshutthemup. Against Normangee,it wasn’ta good game,but we’ve got to step up this yearandshowthem we can dobetter.” H30

AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL

TheEagle

FOOTBALL2021

CASSIE STRICKER, THE EAGLE Leon seniorrunningback LuisGuillen ran for312 yearsand three touchdownslast seasonbutwill be countedontoshouldera bigger workloadthis year.

Jones gives Pantherscenterpiece playmaker

Molina, Cornish among Normangee’s veterans looking to repeat as district champions

ABIGAIL OCHOA abigail.ochoa@theeagle.com

Since KeithSitton took overas Normangee’shead football coach in2019, the Panthershave hadan undeniableplaymakertoleanon.

Formerall-aroundplayerLuke YellottandquarterbackMason Hardy were key cogsinSitton’s ﬁrst two years, andin Year3he’ll look to wide receiver-turnedquarterbackIzaha Jones.

“We’regoing to bemovinghim aroundandmakingdefensesﬁnd him,” Sitton said.“Wedeﬁnitely have agreatpiece to be working aroundinIzaha. He’s aspecial athlete. He’s probablyas goodan athleteasI’ve everbeeninvolved with,andI’m excited to seehow that goes.”

The6-foot-3, 195-pound Jones wastheDistrict11-2ADivision

Ioffensive MVPlast seasonasa junior, rackingup1,039 receiving yardsand721rushing yards with30 total touchdowns forthe 11-1 Panthers.Jonesalso earned all-stateandAll-Brazos Valley honors.

Joneshasbigshoes to ﬁllin replacingHardy,whothrew for 2,371 yardsand28TDsalongwith rushing for 962 yardsand12TDs.

Sitton saidit’s likely Joneswillﬁll more rolesthroughoutthe season andwill getchancesatrunning backand receiver,whicheverwill gethimmore touches.

“It’s going to bedifferent,”Jones saidofhisnew rolethis season, addingthathe’splayedquarterbacksparinglythroughouthis career. “It’s going to beabigchange fromjust catchingthe ball to now I got toworryabout where to throw it,how to throw it, when to throw it,butIthinkI’llbecutout forthe part.”

Normangee wentundefeatedin districtplaylast yearandarethe favorites to take the11-2A-Ititle again. Centervilleisprojected to

ROSTER

1RB/S Wyatt Van Volkinburg,jr.;2RB/CB KalebHaynes, sr.; 4QB/WR/S DallasJones,soph.;5 QB/CBIzahaJones, sr.; 6 WR/LB Dalton Stewart, jr.; 8RB/LBSpencer Yellott, sr.;11RB/TE/LB Kade Stone,jr.;12WR/SJacob

Ray, jr.; 17 WR/LB Brent Walker,soph.; 23 WR/CB Tate Franks,sr.; 24 TE/ LB TylerMcAllister,sr.; 50 C/LBHunter Garner,soph.;52 C/LB Trace

Braylon Cornish,sr.; 67 OG/DB JaceMetzer,

soph.

ﬁnish secondaccording to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, followed by Grapeland,Alto, Leon andGroveton.The Pantherswill needafulleffort to return to the top, Sitton said.

“A numberoftheseguys are

Jones saidhe’s conﬁdentin Normangee’s roster, speciﬁcallythe offensive line, whichhe says will give opponentsahardtime.

“Wehave Junior[Molina]and Braylon [Cornish]—they’regoing to beour two bighitters,”Jones said.“You get pastthemthenkudos toyou,butit’s just going to be hard to get past them I promise. I put my trustbehindthem.I’drun behindthemanydayofthe week.”

Having Molinaand Cornish backwillalleviate someof Normangee’sstress. Last year, the Panthers were adapting to losing nine seniorsanddidn’thave clear startersontheiroffensive or defensive lines.

“That was reallythedifference forus,”Sitton said.“Wehadquestionmarks abouthow we were going to beoffensively anddefensively upfront,andman,they were really thestrength foruson bothsides To have those anchors back reallyallows you to have conﬁdence goingin,because you know we’re going to control some gaps withtheseguys andmake [opponents]looksomewhereelse.”

Molinaand Cornish,both seniors,willbe joined byfellowlinemenHunterGarner, Zayven Henson,Kaden Byrd and Jace Metzer.

Tate FrankandSpencer Yellott alsowillmake good targetsinthe passing game to replace Jones, YoungandGarrett Douga. Wyatt Van Volkinburgwillplayabigger rolethis yearasthe Pantherslook to expandtheirrun game.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 Bremond(29-14)7 p.m.

Sept.3 at Iola(DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept.10#Chilton(18-21)7 p.m.

Sept. 17 at Lovelady(50-12) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 Groesbeck(DNP)7 p.m.

Oct. 1 open

Oct. 8 *at Leon(47-16)7 p.m.

Oct. 15*Grapeland(64-22)7 p.m.

Oct. 22 *at Alto (35-22)7 p.m.

Oct. 29*Centerville(56-26)7 p.m.

Nov. 5 *atGroveton(54-20)7 p.m. *11-2ADI games;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— KeithSitton(65-62 overall, 17-7 atNormangee)

Assistantcoaches— BenBoykin, DerekHayes, KeithKlaus,Quentin Lankford, Luis Luna,Mark MinateaandDerekThomas

District— 11-2A-DI

2020 record— 11-1 (5-0,1st)

2020 playoffs— bi-district: Thrall, 43-20;area: Price Carlisle, 27-21; regionals:Beckville, 19-22

Returninglettermen— 15 (5offensive, 6defensivestarters)

Key returners— QBIzahaJones, sr.(Co-11-2AOff MVP);OL/DL Jose Molina,sr.(A-DonOL,2ndonDL); OL/DLBraylon Cornish, sr (A-D both ways);LB TylerMcAllister (AD);OL HunterGarner,soph. (2nd A-D); DB Wyatt Van Volkinburg, jr.(2nd A-D);LB Logan Luna,sr. (2nd A-D);LBSpencer Yellott, sr. (2nd A-D)

four-yearstarters,” Sitton said, “sothey’ve beenintheﬁre,and theyknow whatit’s like,andthey knowhow to getoutofit.That experienceIthinkwillhelpthose youngguys that we’re countingon cominginand raisingtheir game.”

“We werereallyproudofour receiving corpslast year. We were proliﬁcoutside,” Sitton said. “They got really100%ofour snaps, so there’salotofuncertaintythere. UsingIzahaoutside willhelpalleviate someofthat. We’re expecting DaltonStewart and Wyatt Van Volkinburg, who we’reputtinginaslot where we had Denton[Young]andIzaha, that’s where we really focusour offenseat.”

Ondefense,the Pantherslost Young, whohad125 tackleslast year, but returnabiglinebacking corpsincluding seniors Yellott, Tyler McCallister,LoganLunaand KadeStone.

Keylosses— QBMasonHardy (11-2A MVP);Denton Young(Co11-2ADef. MVP);OLJulius Potts (11-2AOff LOY); WR/DBGarrette Douga(A-D at WR,2ndat DB);OL VincentNavarro(A-D);RBJeremy Johnson(A-D);RBHunterDudley (2nd A-D);OLBNathanBosley (AD);DB Nic Childress(2nd A-D)

All-time record — 403-399-15

Playoff appearances/record— 22(15-19-011-manonly)

Playoff appearances (22)— 11-man(17)— 1932, 1984, 1987-89, 1997,2002-04, 2007-08,2010-11, 2014-16,2018-29; 6-man(2) 196364 (zoneplayoffs 1984-86)

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 H31

Ford, soph.;55OG/DT ZayvenHenson,sr.;60 OT/DEJoseMolina,sr.;61 OT/DE soph.;75OG/DTLandenIsbell, SPECIAL TO THE EAGLE Normangee’s IzahaJonescarriesthe ball againstThrall lastseason.Jones is moving from receiver to quarterbackthis year,andthe Panthers planto shifthimaroundtheoffenseastheytryto confuse opposingdefenses.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 at Trinity(27-14) 7:30 p.m.

Sept.3 at Franklin(DNP)

7:30 p.m.

Sept.10New Waverly(DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 atSnook(DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 *atHolland(21-20)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1*Rosebud-Lott(41-0) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 8 *at Bruceville-Eddy (56-7) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 15*#Thrall (25-0) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 open

Oct. 29 *atThorndale(42-18)

7:30 p.m.

Nov. 5*Moody(45-6) 7:30 p.m.

*12-2ADI games:#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— RickySargent (102-66 overall,30-14 atHearne)

Assistant coaches— assistant head coach Alfonzo Jackson,offensive coordinatorNate Lynch, specialteams coordinator

AgapitoMontelongo,Lance Cook, KenDunn, Lewis Edmonton,Lloyd Turner.

District— 12-2ADivisionI

2020 record— 9-1(6-0,1st)

2020 playoffs— bi-district: Grapeland, 59-14; area:Beckville, 38-41

Returninglettermen— 17

(6offensive, 6 defensivestarters)

Key returners— StephenCraft0Mitchell,sr.(12-2ADef. MVP); AnthonyJackson,sr. (12-2ALinemanof year);JeremiahGurode, jr. (Tri-12-2ADef.NOY);WRJabari Dunn,sr.(12-2AOff. MVP & A-Dat S); KeyshawnLangham,jr. (A-Dat CB,2ndatWR); PK Omar Leon, sr. (2nd A-D)

Keylosses— MicahSmith(12-2A MVP);KR Davon Castilleja(A-D); RB/ILBJeremySeymore(A-D both ways);OLBMilton Redmon (A-D);OGJustin Camper(A-D); OT/DTMonterrius Smith (A-D, both ways);JaylonSauls-Lewis (2nd A-D);ILBGabriel Carter(2nd A-D); C Lance Hamm(2nd A-D) All-time record— 503-466-39 Playoff appearances/record 20(11-20-0)

Playoff appearances(20)— 1936-37, 1939, 1952, 1954, 1961, 1982-83, 1985, 1988, 2002, 200506,2008,2012,2016-20

Hearne set to defend district title

Veteran starters Jackon, Craft-Mitchellpower Eagles’ defense front

ALEX MILLER alex.miller@theeagle.com

Ricky Sargentsaidhe’shada few four-yearstartersduringhistime asahighschoolfootballcoach,and hewillhavetwomoreliningupnext to eachotherthis fallat Hearne.

SeniorsStevenCraft-Mitchell andAnthonyJacksonformadevastatingduoondefensefortheEagles withCraft-Mitchell anchoring the defensivelineattackleandJackson settingtheedge atend. The two playersareenteringtheir fourth seasonsas starters.

“Those guys aretheplayers for us,”Sargentsaid.“They’retheones that we’re going to belooking to reallyleadourdefense, and we’re excited to have those guys back.... Anthony Jackson,he’soneofthose guys that’s long. Beingthe threestarathletethatheis,theycomplementeachotherverywell.Stevenis verytoughinsideandagreatplayer forusandoneofthestrongestguys that we have inourprogram.”

Craft-Mitchell returnsasthe reigningdefensiveMVPin District12-2ADivisionIafter tallying 70 tackles, seven sacksand four forced fumbles in 2020.Jackson earned12-2A-Idefensive lineman ofthe yearhonorslast seasonafter recording21 tackles forloss, eight sacksand fourfumble recoveries.

Duringtheirtime togetherat Hearne,Craft-Mitchelland Jackson saidtheyhave each gotten bigger, fasterandstronger while improvingtheirknowledge of the game.As seniorleaders,Jackson saidhismessage to the team is simple:“Stay humble and keep working.”

“Thissummer, ourguyshave been working reallyhard, and they’ve really come togetheras a team,” Sargent said. “The few seniorsthat we have, they’ve been really goodleaders forusthissummer.”

Craft-Mitchell saidtheEagles look to bolstertheirplayatline-

ROSTER

1WR/DBJeremiahGurode, 5-9, 165,jr.;2RB/DBMiguelGutierrez, 5-6, 165, fr.;3QB/RB/DB Tazamion Webster, 5-8, 155,soph.;4 WR/DBJabariDunn, 6-0, 160,sr.;5 QB/DBJumondBurrell, 5-11, 155, fr.; 6 WR/DBJustavian Bendford, 5-8, 155, soph.; 7 QB/WR/DB KeyshawnLangham, 5-9, 165,jr.; 8 WR/DB XavienMoore,5-7, 135, sr.;9 WR/DEDerrionMitchell, 6-2, 185, fr.; 10RB/LBJamariyon Bendford, 5-10, 205, fr.;11RB/LB DamianGunnels, 5-8, 160, sr.; 12WR/DB ChyneBoxley, 5-8, 160,sr.;13 WR/DBJeremiah Gurode, 5-8, 165,jr.;15WR/DB Ke’Andrick Muckelroy, 5-7, 150, soph.; 16 WR/LB AydenHover, 5-8, 165,jr.; 21 QB/WR/DB KemonLangham, 5-9, 130, fr.; 22 PKOmar Leon, 5-7, 165,sr.; 23 WR/DB Kyson Keys, 5-7, 150,soph.; 24 RB/OLBJecoryMcGrew, 5-7, 165,jr.; 28 QB/DB DarrelBrown, 5-6,141, soph.;32WR/DB Juan Flores-Rizo,5-5,135, jr.; 33 TE/LB LeonardoRizo, 6-2,230, sr.;35WR/DBJustin Story, 5-1,110, fr.;50OL/DLJ’Kyrin Flentroy, 5-10, 245, soph.;52OL/DL Steven Craft-Mitchell, 6-0, 255, sr.;55OL/DL AnthonyJackson, 6-3,255, sr.;56OL/DLDecorvian Workman, 6-1, 245, sr.; 58 C/LB Lee Frank, 5-10,210,sr.;60OL/DL LandonJohnson 5-1,150,soph.; 62 OL/DLQuendra Straughter, 5-7, 180,soph.;66OL/DL JimmieJonesIII, 6-1, 245, soph.; 74 OL/DLJovany Salas, 5-8, 265, jr.;75OL/DLJaquaveon Johnson, 5-10, 145, fr.; 80 WR/DB Jabez Johnson, 5-6, 300,soph.; 82 WR/ DB Jamal Davenport, 5-9, 135,soph.

backerwiththedefense’sstrength inthesecondaryanddefensiveline. Working extrahard hasbeen junior KeyshawnLangham, who is taking over at quarterback after four-yearstarter MicahSmith graduated.

“Keyshawn’s stilllearningat quarterback,buthe’soneofthetop cornersaroundandhe’llstillplay corner,” Sargent said. “He’sstill learningthequarterbackposition, buthe’s aleader mostimportantly, andthat’swhat’sgoing tomakethe difference forus.”

Onesure-ﬁre differencemaker Langham canturn to onoffenseis senior receiver JabariDunn.Last season, Dunn wasnamedthedistrict’soffensive MVPafter reeling in44 catchesfor1,144 yards and 13 touchdowns. Sargent saidDunn is apure competitor whohas a work ethicthat’s second to none.

“Jabari’s justoneofthose athletesthatis very talentedon both sidesoftheball,”Sargentsaid.“We know thathe’sanoutstanding receiver,probably one of the best receiversinourarea, but we’re looking forward to himbeingaleader forusonoffenseanddefenseas well.”

Hearnecheckedin at No. 15 in Texas Football’sClass2ADivision Ipreseasonpolland were picked to win12-2A-I fora secondstraight season.

TheEagleshave just fourhome gamesthis season. Threeoftheir fournondistrict gamesareon the road, highlighted by a Week 2 matchupat Franklin,last year’s3A DivisionIIstate runner-up.

Craft-Mitchelland Jackson said theyhave one goalontheirmind —advance past the second round of theplayoffs. Hearne has been knockedoutinthearea round four straight seasons. TheEagleshave only reachedthethirdroundonce in schoolhistory,makingitthat far in2006.

“We focusondoing the little things right, and we believe that the key to chemistryis consistency,” Sargent said “If we canbe consistentoffensively, defensively andwithspecialteams,we’regoing to beﬁne.”

H32 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

CASSIE STRICKER, THE EAGLE AnthonyJackson returnstoHearnetostartat defensiveend forthe fourth straightseason.Heandseniortackle StevenCraft-MitchellleadtheEagles’ frontas twoofthebestlinemeninDistrict12-2A-I.

Rebuilding year has promise in Bremond

DEs Minor, Herbst shore up Tigers’ defensive front

ALEX MILLER alex.miller@theeagle.com

Their talentispromising,but youthisprominentamongthe Bremond Tigers this year.

Head coach Jeff Kasowski said the Tigers are workingondevelopinga teamladenwith underclassmen to preparethem to play on Fridaynights.

“It will be agrowingprocess,but intheenditwillbea goodthing,” Kasowski said.

Theprocessbeginswithdevelopingfreshmanquarterback Braylen Wortham, whois taking over forKasowski’s son,Seth,who graduated.

“Braylen’s going to bea real good one forus,” Kasowski said.“The best teacheris experience,andit takesa while forthat to happen.He gothisjuniorhigh yearsof experience, butthere’s abigdifference betweeneighthgrade footballand varsity football, so he’ll learn, and there willbea learningcurve there, butI feel really goodabouthispotential.”

Standoutdefensive tackleand running back JaRayBledsoetransferred to Marlin overthesummer forhis senior year, leavingthe Tigers searching fornewplaymakers inthe backﬁeld.

“He wasabiga part,especially onthedefensive line,andheplayed running back,of course, and was hard to tackle,” Kasowski said. “Whatisdoesopen thedoor forus isachance forus to move forward with some youngkids whoare talented,anditwillgive themanother yearof varsity experience.”

Bremondappears to have found anewrunning backin sophomore GaelCarrizales,whomKasowski said workedhis wayonto varsity asafreshmanlast falland earned playingtimeatlinebacker toward the end ofthe season.

“He’s going to stepinthereand play somerunning back,”Kasowski said.“He’sa toughkid,runshard, blocks well,andhe’s going to be a

ROSTER

1JuliusScott, soph.;2 CarsonCrowley, fr.;3 Gael Carrizales,soph.; 5, LoganBurnett,jr.; 6 Tevondre Shepard,soph.;7Braylen Wortham,fr.; 8 Koben Zan,soph.; 10 Clayton Watson,sr.;11 Brady Tullous,fr.;13 Dominic Williams,fr.; 21 Logan Fuller, soph.; 23 Ryan Wietzkoski,soph.;50 Arian Aguilar,jr.; 51 Clete Wigley, jr.;52 Lee Williams,soph.; 53 ColtinPruitt,fr.; 54Don Tower, jr.;55MilesMinor,sr.;56LandonEichinger sr.; 57 Ty Ritter, fr.; 58 ZeanAl-Tal, soph.; 59 IsaacThomason,soph.;60Riley Ritter,sr.; 63 RhettOlson,fr.; 66Jace Slafka,soph.; 74 JackHerbst,jr.

goodrunning back. He’llbeour guyinthe backﬁeld.”

The strengthofBremond’s team lies within the Tigers’offensive line,Kasowski said. Competition forplayingtime continues at receiver, headded,asahandfulofplayers ﬁght forstarting roles. Those players, alongwith WorthamandCarrizales, will makeupBremond’s secondaryon

defense.

LeadingtheBremonddefense willbe defensive ends Miles Minor and Jack Herbst. Minorisathreeyearletterwinner,whomKasowski callstheanchorofthe overalldefenseandthe Tigers’bestholdover onthatsideofthe ball.Herbstwill bea second-yearstarter.

“Bothofthose guys were elected captainsinthespring, and bothof

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 atNormangee(14-29)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 3 Axtell(58-20) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 atMilano(43-0)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 at Dawson(24-13)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 at Centerville(32-36)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 open

Oct. 8*#Frost(49-7)7 p.m.

Oct. 15*Mart(6-78)7 p.m.

Oct. 22 *atHubbard(59-28)

7 p.m.

Oct. 29 *Wortham (64-30)7 p.m.

Nov. 5 *at Chilton(48-20)7 p.m. *10-2ADivisionII games; #Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— Jeff Kasowski (107-27 overall&atBremond)

Assistantcoaches— Chuck Caskey, Robbie Kasowski,Jordan Revill,Isaiah Barrera,Donald Morgan, JohnathonWhite

District— 10-2A DivisionII

2020 record 8-4(4-1,2nd)

2020 playoffs— bi-district: Maud,56-14; area: Tenaha,30-42

Playoff appearances(34)—

1951, 1955, 1957, 1962-63, 1981-83, 1986-88, 1990, 1993-96, 2000-02, 2005-08,2010-20)

Returninglettermen— 10 (5offensive, 5defensivestarters)

themare very good examplesof captains forus,” Kasowski said. “They work hard.They’re both intelligent.They’re both good kids. They’re thekind you want to be captains. We’llleanontheir leadershipthis year forallofthese youngguys.”

The Tigers have fourof ﬁvenondistrict gamesonthe road,including contests at Normangee,Milano and Centerville.Kasowski saidhe hopesthe team’sgrowthduring nondistrictplay cantranslateinto winsandaplayoff pushinDistrict 10-2A DivisionII.

“We want to getthisbunchinto theplayoffsandmaybewinaplayoff gameor two,” Kasowski said. “Ithinkif we can getthis youthful bunchintheplayoffsand getthem that experience,that’s our goal.”

Key returners— OLMilesMinor, sr.(A-D);WR LoganBurnett, jr. (2nd A-D);OLArian Aguilar,jr. (2nd A-D);LB Clint Wigley, sr.(2nd A-D)

Keylosses— QB/SSeth Kasowski (A-Dboth ways);RB/DLJaRay Bledsoe(A-Dboth ways);OL/DL David Williams(A-DatOL,2nd at DL);OL/DLRileySlafka(A-D at OL, 2ndatDL);LB/WRHunter Wilganowski(A-DatLB,2ndat WR);WR/S TJ Grimes(2nd A-D both ways)

All-time record 559-377-27

Playoff appearances/record — 34(76-28-2)

Playoff appearances(34)— 1951, 1955, 1957, 1962-63, 1981-83, 1986-88, 1990, 1993-96, 2000-02, 2005-08,2010-20

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021

H33

EAGLE FILEPHOTO Bremondwillopentheseasoninanondistrict rematchagainstNormangeeat 7:30 p.m. FridayinNormangee.

H34

EAGLE

AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

FILE PHOTOS

Experience on Burton’s side this year

ABIGAIL OCHOA abigail.ochoa@theeagle.com

There were plentyofquestion marks surroundingBurton’s2020 season.The Panthersdidn’thave aclear-cutstartingquarterback, hadloadsofnew facesand were adapting to COVID-19 restrictions. Almosta yearlater, Burton isas conﬁdentinits rosteras ever.

The Pantherslostjust four seniorsand return28lettermen,includingjunior Vicente Velizunder centerandplaymakers Waylonand Weston Hinze.ThepowerBurton brings backthis seasonis the resultofafull yearplayinginDistrict 13-2ADivisionIIandironing out mistakesmade by theinexperienced squad.

“Wehave a lotofguys coming back,and they’ve kindof solidiﬁed themselvesand whattheyneed to dopositionwise,”head coach Jason Hodde said.“So we shouldhitthe groundrunningalittle fasterthan we did last year, andhopefully we canputitall togetherandhave a more experienced football team that’s gotmorepotential.”

Burton wasprojected by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football to win itsdistrictlast yearthanks to a loadofplaymakers. Butthe Panthers fellshortofthetitleandlost inthebi-districtplayoff round, ﬁnishingthe seasonwitha4-7 record Burtonisprojected to ﬁnishthirdthis yearbehindSnook andGranger, and Waylon Hinze wasnamedthepreseasondefensive MVP.

Althoughthe Hinzebrothers are set to make a bigimpact, having Velizatquarterbackwilloffer stabilitythat wasn’ttherebefore, Hodde said.

Thejunioradapted to the role late last seasonaftertradingsnaps withfreshman Colby Beckduring nondistrictplayin what Hodde describedasa“quarterback carousel.”Senior CooperLucherk was also competing fortimeatquarterbackbut wasmoved to running backafterthe seasonopener.

“Vicente Veliz established that role asa leader, and goingintothis yearhe’s going to be ourstarter,” Hodde said.“He’s a well rounded youngmanthatrunstheoffense,

and we likedhowhematured and he’s gotanother yearunderhis belt.We look forhim to betheﬁeld leaderonoffense andmanage the game.”

Velizwillhave good targets in tightend Weston Hinzeandwide receiversCarsonLauterandTanner Gore. Intherun game,Burton returnsJaydonBrown,TyronGilman and utilityplayer PeirsonSpeiss.

“Intheoffseason,[I’ve]just tried to getbigger, strongerand faster, trying to mentallyprepare for what’s going to happen,especiallyatquarterback,” Veliz said.

“We’re changing somethings on offense, so hopefullythis year we have moresuccess.”

Hodde saidﬁndingarun-pass rhythmonoffensewillbe key this

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021

season.

“Weliketherunning backs we have, andﬁndingthat consistent mixis what we’re going to haveto ﬁndoutduring camp,” he said.

The Hinzebrotherswillbeabig partofﬁndingthatgroove. Waylon Hinzewillopenspacesonthe offensive line,leadingthe core of returnersincludingEricFlores, JacksonDixonand JermiahHudgen.The Hinzesalsowillbe key for Burton’sdefenseaslinebackers.

“Theyhave a huge impact,” Hodde said.“Theystartedbothas freshmen,so theybring some swag and sometradition to thecrew. They[have]hada good seasonthe last two seasons, andthey really emergedasbeing somedominant leaders.”

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug.27Holland(12-27)

7:30 p.m.

Sept.3at Waco Reicher (DNP)7 p.m.

Sept.10atBrazos(12-18)

7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 open

Sept. 24 atShiner(DNP)

7:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 *at Snook(36-0)

7 p.m.

Oct. 8*Somerville(30-14)

7 p.m.

Oct. 15 *atBartlett(61-0)

7 p.m.

Oct. 22*#Granger(12-18)

7 p.m.

Oct. 29 *atMilano(56-6)

7 p.m.

Nov. 5 *Iola(7-18)

7 p.m. *13-2ADivisionII games

FACTS

Head coach— JasonHodde (76-36 overall, 76-36atBurton)

Assistant coaches— Clinton Smith,JaimeSmith, Carl Faigle, MattThaler, Alan Richard,John Weatherstone

District 13-2ADivisionII

2020 record— 4-7 (4-2,tied for 3rd)

2020playoffs— bi-district: Christoval (forfeited)

Waylon Hinze saidthe team will feature some young faces, but overallthe teamis comfortablewith eachother.

“Nowyouknowtheirweakspots and whenthey gettired what you haveto do to keepthem going,” Waylon Hinze said. “Ihaveto be theleader.Usseniorshavetobethe leadersandshowthem,‘OK,if we keepplaying,they’llkeepplaying.’”

Hodde saidthe team’schemistryshouldtranslateontheﬁeldas the Pantherslook to limitpenaltiesandimprove ball securityafter startinglast season 0-5.

“Wehadalotofgreen eyes,” Hodde said.“High school football canbe very intimidating for young kids,and we’renot going to have as muchofthatthis year.”

Returninglettermen— 28 (9offensive, 8defensivestarters)

Key returners— OL/OLB Waylon Hinze, sr.(A-Dboth ways);OLEric Flores, sr. (A-D);RBPeirsonSpies (2nd A-D);CB TannerGore(A-D); LB DavidDeleon(2nd A-D)

Keylosses— RB Cooper Lucheck (13-2A Tri-Off.MVP);FB Carter Callahan(2nd A-D); SS Eric Lopez (2nd A-D); TE LaneBaker(HM A-D)

All-time record 293-357-15

Playoff appearances/record— (14)21-14

Playoff appearances(14) — 1992, 1995,2008,2010-20

H35

CASSIE STRICKER THE EAGLE WaylonHinzeis back forBurtontohelpleadthe Panthers’offensiveline,whileplayinga key roleondefense at linebacker.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 at Thrall(DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept.3 Normangee(DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept.10 Lovelady(12-28) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 Tomball Christian(DNP) TBA

Sept. 24 *Snook (14-42)7 p.m.

Oct. 1 *atSomerville (42-36) 7 p.m.

Oct. 8*#Bartlett(49-18)7 p.m.

Oct. 15atGranger (16-43) 7 p.m.

Oct. 22*Milano(51-13) 7 p.m.

Oct. 29 open

Nov. 5 *atBurton7 p.m. *13-2ADivisionII games;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— KerryBamburg (34-38 overall, 8-11 atIola)

Assistant coaches— offensive coordinator ColtonMaiorka, defensive coordinatorJayme Timm, JasonJolly, KennethAlmstedt

District— 13-2ADivisionII

2020 record— 4-4 (4-2, tied for3rd)

2020 playoffs— bi-district: Eldorado,44-51

Returninglettermen— 14 (4offensive, 6defensivestarters)

Key returners— QBBrian Crosby, jr. (2nd A-D);LB Wesley Alexander,jr.(2nd A-D);LB Coy Elliott, sr. (2nd A-D);DB Cullen Walton,soph.(HM A-D);WR-DBPhilip England (HM A-D);TE-LB Clayton Stafford(HM A-D)

Keylosses— WR/RB/DB Case Creamer(A-Dboth ways);OL/DL Spencer Quinlan(A-Dboth ways); RB/LB ChadGuidry(A-Dboth ways); WR CaleGould(2nd A-D); OL/DL ColbySechelski(2nd A-D both ways);OL-DL ReeseHiett (HM A-D); OL Anthony Robbins (HM A-D)

All-time record— 401-357-17

Playoff appearances/record 21 (20-20-1)

Playoff appearances(21)— 1939, 1960, 1991-95, 1998-99, 2001,2005-06,2012-20

Revampedoffense in Iola’s 2021 plans

ROSTER

2WR/DBPhilipEngland,sr.;3WR/DB CadenJordan,soph.; 4 WR/DB Cale Creamer,jr.;6 WR/LB Kyler Dreher,soph.;7RB/DB Kage Lee, soph.;8TE/ LB Clayton Stafford,sr.; 9 WR/DB Cullen Walton,soph.;10WR/DBJohn MarkEngland,soph.; 15 DustinCrosby, fr.; 17 WR/DBJoshBrockett, fr.;20

passing game.

ROBERT CESSNA robert.cessna@theeagle.com

The IolaBulldogs are banking onanewattitudeand revamped offenseleading to awinning season.

Offensive coordinator Colton Maiorka, oneofthreenewoffensive coaches, hastheBulldogs runninga variationofthe WingTfromashotgun formation.The Bulldogs last year rananoffense basedon Wing-Tandsinglewing principles.

“There’s alotofsimilarities, butIthinkitﬁts whatourkids do,” third-yearhead coach Kerry Bamburg said.“Wehavealot of misdirection, alotofangles, alot of[linemen]pulls.”

Thetransitionstartedinlast season’s51-44bi-districtloss to Eldorado,which easily took a 22-0lead.ThestagnantBulldogs, 17-pointunderdogs, changedup things by using fake pitches, misdirectionand evena couplepretendfumblesin roaring back to get withina touchdown.

“That gamelefta bad tastein ourmouth,” Bamburg said.“We didn’t startas wellas we should have, and we played catchupthe wholetime.”

Itdidn’thelp Iola’s psychethat Eldorado was forced to forfeitthe following weekbecauseof COVID-19.

“Sotheseguys who came back, they’re playingwithalittlebitof

QB/DBBrianCrosby, jr.; 24 RB/DB BlakeBennett, soph.;25 RB/LBBrandon Smith,fr.; 28 OL/PK DanielRios, jr.; 30 WR/LB Damian Womack, fr.; 33 RB/ LB Coy Elliott;40WR/DB AJ Pointer,fr.;44WR/LB WesleyAlexander, jr.;50 OL/DLGrantGoodney, fr.;52OL/DL Levi Hunn,jr.; 53 OL/DLDylanAbney, jr.;54OL/DL TurnerFleming,fr.;55WR/LB Christian Ashford,fr.;56OL/LB Cade Walton,jr.; 57 OL/LB CadenceShive, soph.;58OL/DL BrandonPerez, jr.;60OL/DL JuniorJuarez,fr.; 70 LB/PK Chris Arzola,soph.; 73 OL/DL RobertThomas,fr.; 74 OL/DL Cason Walton,fr.;75OL/DL Justin Reeves,jr.; 76 OL/DLMichaelThomas,fr.;77OL/DLBraden Zac-Padgett, soph.; 78 OL/ DL SheltonJohnson,sr.

achipontheirshoulder,” Bamburg said.“If you’regoing to go out, go outwithourbesteffort,and we feellike we didn’tgive ourbest effort, so they’veworkedhardthis summer.”

Leadingthecharge for IolaisjuniorBrianCrosby, a second-team all-districtquarterback.

“The game’sslowingdown for him,” Bamburg said.“He’s got those first-yearjittersandknocks outofthe way. He’s seeingthe field. Hisvisionisbetter. He’s becomethat vocalleaderonthe field, whichis what we expect our quarterback to do. He’s assumed that role.”

Crosby is adualthreat, which isa goodthingsince Iolahas ﬁve newoffensivelinemen,including twofreshmen.

“We’ve gotthem young,” Bamburg said. “That’s good, because theydon’thave anyother schemes to compareit to, butthey’re young.Theyhave alotoflearning to do, andmostofthemplayed junior high balllast year.”

Thegroupisbeingmolded by ﬁrst-yearline coach Kenneth

Almstedt.

“We’re tallthis year,” Bamburg said.“We’renot realbig,but we’re tallandskinny. We’rehopingwith thatheightthatthose guys will grow intothose bodies. Thenas theypick up andlearn,they come intotheir own.”

Iola washithard by graduation,losing atrio of two-way all-districtperformersinlinemanSpencerQuinlan,running back/linebackerChad Guidry andrunning back/wide receiver/ defensive backCase Creamer, who complementedCrosby in the backﬁeld.

“LosingCreamer wasbig,but we gothislittlebrother [Cale], so he’s gotbigshoes to ﬁll,” Bamburg said.

Iolaalso returns talented senior wingbackPhilipEngland.

“He wasabig weapon forus, so he’llbemovingaround,justtrying to gethimthe ball,” Bamburg said.

Sophomores KylerDreherand Blake Bennettwillvie for carries to complementEnglandin Iola’s run-ﬁrstoffensethatwillleanon bootlegsand rollouts to setupthe

“We’re notaskingthose [linemen] to holdthose blocks,” Bamburg said,addingthatthe Bulldogs’ newoffenselikelywillbe a work inprogress earlyinthe season.“We’re all excited, curious to see wherethisthingis going to go. Thekidshave been workinghard.They’ve graspedthenew concepts.”

Iola returnssixstartersondefense

“We’re hopingthedefense can carryus early on,” Bamburg said. “We’ve gota solid corps.”

Linebackeristheunit’s strength with seniors CoyElliottandClaytonStafford returningalongwith junior WesleyAlexander. Inthe secondary, sophomoreCullen Waltonisa returning cornerback alongwithEngland.Thedefensive lineinthe3-4alignmentis untestedwiththe sameinexperiencedplayers fromoffense taking thesnaps.

Iolahad two games canceled early last seasonbecauseof COVID-19 but cameonstronglatein the season to maketheplayoffs for theninthstraight year,extending thelongestrunin schoolhistory. Bamburg saidtheprogramisin goodposition to continuethat streak,andthe teamhasembraced thechangeofoffenseandthenew coaches.

“It’s beena goodtransition,” Bamburg said.“So we’re going to ridethat early on. Hopefully by thetimedistrict gets around, everybodyisclickingonall cylinders, thekidsas wellasthe coaches.”

NOTES Iolaispicked to ﬁnishﬁfthinDistrict 13-2ADivisionII.

H36 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

Bulldogs’ Crosby, England will be working in version of Wing-T scheme

Morehead aims to lead Milano rebuild

TRAVIS L. BROWN travis.brown@theeagle.com

Buildingtrustinanew coaching staff takestime.

New Milanohead football coach Nick Moreheadhas years worthof aheadstartwiththeathletesinhis program.

Moreheadisﬁllingthe voidleft by retiredChadLaGroneafter servingasoffensive line coach for seven yearsanddefensive coordinator forthe past fourat Milano.

“Iknowallthekids,” Morehead said.“I’ve beenthere seven years, so I’ve seenthemfromsixthgrade onup, and we have agreat relationship Ithinkithelpshaving that base goingin.Theytrust you, andtheytrustthat we’re going to take themintherightdirection.”

After going 2-7last yearand winningjustthree games total overthelast two seasons, the Eagleshave been rebuildingtheir morale whilelearningnewoffensive anddefensive systems.Morehead saidhelikes whathe’s seen fromtheEagles so far.

“Once you getthem to buy into what you’re doingandtheytrust the systemandtrust you,that’s 90%ofthe battlerightthere,” Morehead said.

Theoffensewill revolvearound juniorquarterback Jayce Todd, whohasbeen key inimplement-

ROSTER

1QB/DBJayce Todd, 6-5, 190, jr.; 2 TE/DLNickGrimes, 5-11,200,sr.; 4

RB/LB Chris Vazquez, 5-11, 175, jr.;

5RB/LBAlan Maldonado, 5-8, 145, jr.;6TE/DLRyan Tate, 6-1, 180,jr.;

8QB/DBGaelAlcala, 5-9, 140, jr.;

11RB/LB EthenKnight, 6-1,160, sr.; 20 RB/LBJason Avalos, 5-9, 180,

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 ValleyMills(35-13)7 p.m.

Sept.3 at Alpha Omega(DNP)

7:30 p.m.

Sept.10Bremond(0-43) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 Thorndale(DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 *#Somerville(0-62)

7 p.m.

ingthenewoffense.This season, Moreheadandhisstaff areasking theoffense to incorporatemore reads, Todd said.

“Last year, we just hadoneplay and we didn’t really readthedefense,”Toddsaid.“Thisyear,we’re readingthedefenseand we’ve got anewlookand we’re ready.”

Todd sawactionin four games last season, completing30of54 passes for388 yardsandthree touchdowns. Ondefense,he recorded seven tacklesandaninterceptionat safety.

Toddhasalready proven himself onthe basketball court, averaging 17.2pointsand 6.6 reboundsper gameand earningDistrict 27-2A offensive MVPhonorslast season.

“He’sabig,athletickid,” Morehead said.“He has alotof talents, andhe’lljustbeajunior, so we’ve got twomore yearswithhimin the system. He’s there everyday,

Oct. 1 *atBartlett(24-6)7 p.m.

Oct. 8*Granger(13-43) 7 p.m.

Oct. 15 Open

Oct. 22 *at Iola (13-51) 7 p.m.

Oct. 29*Burton(6-56)7 p.m.

Nov. 5 *atSnook(7-22)7 p.m. *13-2ADivisionII games;#Homecoming

workingandpickingitup,andhe’s going to beabigasset forus.”

Toddwill,however, bewithoutthe reigning 13-2ADivision IInewcomerofthe year, running back Josh Millar,whowillnotbe playingwiththe teamthis season, Morehead said. Millarrushed for 774 yardsand seven touchdowns last seasonand recorded34 tackles andaninterceptionondefense.

Todd saidhestill expectsthe running game to beastrength for theEaglesthis season,thanks to strongrunblockingfromtheoffensive line.In Millar’sstead, Milano returnsrunning backsChris Vazquez (43 yards, 1TD)andAlan Maldonado(27 yards).

Ondefense,linebackerEthan Gordon returnsasthe team’sleading tackler, recording32 tackles last yearwith two forloss. Maldonado(19 tackles)and Vazquez (11 tackles)alsowillbolsterthe

linebacking corps. NickGrimes returnsafterposting18 tackles, one tackle forloss and twointerceptionslast season.

It’s thequickbuy-infromhis youngbut experienced team thatmakes Moreheadbelieve the Eaglesareheadedintherightdirectioninhisﬁrst seasonashead coach.

“We’re young,but we have some experienceand some good young leadership,” Morehead said. “I’m excited forthem.They’ve bought in to what we’retrying to do, and we’re ready.”

FACTS

Head coach— NickMorehead (ﬁrst year)

Assistant coaches

LeeEssman,MatthewJentsch, ConnorMarshall, MikeMerritt, Ryan Warner

District— 13-2ADivisionII

2020 record 2-7(1-5,6th)

Returninglettermen— 14 (7offensive, 7defensivestarters)

Key returners— OLGreg Storey (HM A-D);

Keylosses— OLRyanBlakely (HM A-D); WR/DB Hector Munoz (2nd A-D both ways);WR Weston Averett(HM A-D)

All-time record(11-man) 231-356-11

Playoff appearances/record— 12 (8-12)

Playoff appearances(15) — 6-man: 1965-66, 1975;11-man (11): 1999-2000,2005,2007, 2010-11,2013-18

soph.;21RB/DBAndyGutierrez, 5-10,150,sr.;22TE/DBMykalHutson, 5-8, 170,jr.; 24 RB/LBAndres

Ruelas, 5-6, 205, fr.;32RB/LB Ethan Gordon, 5-10, 195; 44TE/DBDonny

Dennis, 6-2, 160, sr.;51OL/LB EdisonBui, 5-9, 150,soph.;52OL/LB IrvinJuarez, 5-11, 180,jr.;54OL/DL

Marco Mederos, 6-1, 180,jr.;56 OL/ DL Austin McGowin, 5-9, 195, soph.; 70 OL/DLGreg Storey, 6-2, 290, soph.; 72OL/DLLayne Ferrell, 5-11, 260, jr.;77OL/DLGeraldDykes, 6-0, 210, fr.

TheEagle

H37

AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021

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SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 Kashmere(DNP)7 p.m.

Sept.3 at Thorndale(0-6)7 p.m.

Sept.10Thrall (20-26)7 p.m.

Sept. 17 Hearne(DNP)7 p.m.

Sept. 24 *atIola(42-14)7 p.m.

Oct. 1*Burton(0-36)7 p.m.

Oct. 8 open

Oct15 *atSomerville(30-7) 7 p.m.

Oct. 22*#Bartlett (50-6)7 p.m.

Oct. 29 *atGranger(50-13)7 p.m.

Nov. 5*Milano(22-7)7 p.m.

*13-2ADivisionII games;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— Dylan Conway (ﬁrst year)

Assistant coaches— offensive coordinatorJohn Conway, defensive coordinatorEriqMitchell, Cameron Besetsny, JordanHaﬂey andJames David

District— 13-2ADivisionII

2020 record— 7-5 (5-1, tied for1st)

2020 playoffs— bi-district: Miles,40-6;area: Yorktown, 52-23; regionals: Christoval, 6-56

Returninglettermen— 22(7 offensive, 4defensivestarters)

Key returners— QB/DBGarrett Lero, sr.(A-DatQB,2ndatDB); OL JonathanQuevedo,sr.(AD);OL David Toler, sr.(A-D);DB JoseGarcia,sr.(A-D); DL Gabriel Martinez, soph.(A-D);OLJames Johnson,sr.(2nd A-D);OLRichardSantillan,jr.(2nd A-D);OL Davion Walters,sr.(2nd A-D);DL CodyNoriega,sr. (A-D); OL Ryder Becka, jr (HM A-D)

Keylosses— WR-LB David Davila (13-2A MVP);DLJasonBarker(132A Def. MVP);LBJaxson Brisco (A-D); WR/DB MaDariusHamilton (A-D,both ways);LB/WR-RB JustinSupak(A-Dboth ways);DB

Jermaine Kearney(A-D);RB/DB

Cameron Conerway(2nd A-Dboth ways);

All-time record— 47-91-1

Playoff appearances/record 4(4-4)

Playoff appearances(4)— 2016, 2018-20

Bluejays want to keep ﬂying under new coach

ABIGAIL OCHOA abigail.ochoa@theeagle.com

This seasonhasadejavu feel to it fortheSnookBluejays.

Two yearsafterundergoinga coachingchange,theBluejays aredoingitagain. Dylan Conway is taking over for Boone Patterson, wholeft to be head coachat Caldwell whenMattLangley resignedinMay. Conway wasan offensive coordinatoratIngleside andis taking overa solidSnook squadthathas11 returningstarters and Texas Football’s District 132ADivisionIIpreseasonoffensive MVPGarrettLerounder center.

Butunlike Patterson who was hiredin February2019, Conway is facingaquickerturnaroundwith littlemorethanthesummer to adjust to thenew teamand school.

Conway inheritedone coachfrom thepreviousstaff,offensive line andspecial teams coachCameron Besetsny,whilehis father,John Conway,will serveasSnook’snew offensive coordinatorafterleaving Inglesideas well.

“It’s a blessingandacurse all inthe same,” Conway said.“You comeintoaprogramthat’s doing great,andthenthetime constraint of whenI washiredmakesthat partdifficult,butI’mdeﬁnitely excited.Theopportunity forsuccess is there,andI toldthem each day we’re going to try to get 1% better, andif we do that,great thingswillhappen.”

Conway saidhavingsummer workoutshashelpedhimbond withplayers, andhe’s excited by theprogress fromtheunderclassman.

“We’regoing good,” receiver anddefensive back Jose Garcia said.“New coaches,we’recreating newbondswiththem,andthey’re teachingushow to communicate with eachother. Thechangein coachesdoesn’taffectusatall. We just want to ball.”

Snook’s youngprogrammade historyunder Patterson, wholed theBluejays to theirfirstdistrict titleandfirstappearanceinthe regionalquarterfinals whilealso coachingthemintheirfirst footballstadium. Pattersoninherited an experienced rosterfromChad

TheSnookBluejays wontheir ﬁrstdistrictchampionshipin footballlastseason.

ROSTER

1QB/DBGarrett Lero, sr.;2RB/DBLance Lara,jr.;3RB/DB CasonPitts,jr.; 4FB/DBGarrettHyvl,soph.;5WR/LB Daniel Davila,jr.; 6 RB/DBJoseGarcia,sr.;7QB/DB J. Beaux Hruska,soph.;8RB/DBRiley Pitts,fr.; 9 QB/DB Caden Schluens,fr.;11WR.DB ChevyBarker, sr.; 13WR/DBBrett Withem, fr.; 14 WR/DB WesleySee,WR/DB;15RB/DBJosh Green,soph.;16WR/DB Tristan Yen,fr.;20TE/LB KadeJunek, soph.;22WR/DBLiam Zequeria,fr.; 23 TE/LB TavarenGrimes,jr.; 24 FB/LBMarkMoore, soph.;25 RB/LBJordanPrice, fr.;30FB/LBRyderBecka,jr.;34WR/DB LanceLammons,soph.; 44 FB/LBJacob Castaneda,fr.;50OL/LB JonathanQuevedo,sr.;51OL/DL Davion Waters,sr.;52OL/DL CodyNoriega,sr.; 54 RichardSantillan,jr.;56 OL/DLJulianMartinez, soph.;60 OL/DLJamesJohnson,sr.;65OL/DL Alex Bond,fr.;66OL/DLJaredBryan,soph.; 67 OL/DL Luke Jakubik,jr.;72OL/ DL Jeremiah Powell,fr.; 74 OL/DLGabriel Martinez, soph.;75 OL/DL Robert Carter,fr.;77OL/DL David Toler, jr.;88TE/DLSamSmitherman,jr.

Lechler,wholedSnook to a record-setting9-3 seasonin2018.

Likehispredecessor, Conway is inheritinga solid teamwithhigh expectations. TheBluejaysare projected by Texas Football to repeatas 13-2A-IIchampionsafter going5-1inleagueplayand 7-5 overalllast year. Leroisadriving forcebehindtheloftyprojection. The5-foot-9, dual-threatquarterbackthrew for1,446 yardsand rushed for 890 yardswith26 total touchdownsin2020.

Lerowillhave a reliable target

inGarciaalongwiththemajorityofhisoffensive line returning inRichard Santillan, David Toler and center JonathanQuevedo Defensive lineman CodyNoriegaand GabrielMartinezalsowill contributeontheoffensive line.

Snookalsohas to ﬁnd replacements for several key players who have graduated,includingrunning back David Davilaandwide receivers Jermaine Kearneyand JustinSupak.ButhavingLero captaintheshipshould keepthe offensemoving.

“It’llbecrucial,especiallythe leadership role,” Conway saidof Lero’smanydutiesonthe team. “He’saquietkidanddoes everythingtheright way,so formulating around what we like to dooffensively as astaff withhisskill set is going to be hugebut[also] gettinghim to playboth ways when he can.”

Garciaalsowillbe key atlinebacker, alongwithrunning back/ linebackerGarrett Hyvl andQuevedo,whowill comein to helpthe backﬁeld.

“Garciaisalsoa dynamicathlete,” Conway said.“He could lineupat someslotas wellinthe backﬁeldandbeable to give usa run dynamicandnotjustadeep threat. He’llbeoneofthose that we look to turn to when we need abigplay.”

WhileSnookwill countona few new faces,Conway andGarcia said theyhave hopesof returning to theplayoffsandhave the roster to makeitthere.

“Ourhopeis to getfurtherand live up to the expectationthat they’re puttingonusthis year,” Garcia said.

H38 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

TO THE EAGLE

SPECIAL

Somerville poised for breakthrough year

Yeguas hope to turn last year’s close calls into playoff berth

ROBERT CESSNA robert.cessna@theeagle.com

The Somerville footballprogram turnedthe cornerlast season. Nowthe Yeguas want to pickup the pace.

Somerville wentjust 2-6last seasonbutﬁnishedstrong, beatingBartlett34-12and Milano 62-0 to getinposition to make the playoffs.The Yeguaslost to Burton 30-14 in the seasonﬁnale,capping astretchofthree gamesin11days ina revamped schedulebecauseof COVID-19.

“Ithought we hadastrong year,” Somerville second-year coachCal Neatherlin said.“We were justrightthere. We battled everybody. We lostthree games ontheﬁnalplayofthe game. Our season couldhave beenbigtime.

We couldhave hadthemostwins since2006, so Ibelieve we have laidthe foundation.”

Somervillealso won two games in2019, butthe Yeguasoften weren’t competitive, endinga 2-7 seasonwithasix-gamelosing streakin whichthey were outscored215-41.Last year,Somervilleoutscoredtheopposition 206-198.

“[That]means you’re playing pretty good ball,andourdefense wasplaying well,”Neatherlin said. “Wethink we’re going to beright there,and we’re going to be battling everybodyin everydistrict game.Last year, theonly teams that beat us were playoff opponents.”

Somervillehad back-to-back roadlosses to Leon30-29 and Granger20-17 in whatendedup ﬁnishingitsnondistrict schedule becauseof COVID-19. Two weeks later,Somervilleopeneddistrict

Pleasesee SOMERVILLE, PageH40

ROSTER

1 WR/DB Herschel Conway, soph.; 2 TE/LBJulian Frayre, sr.;3RB/DBArvisBurns,sr.;4 QB/DBJohnny Legg, sr.;5WR/DB VerKobe Woodberry, sr.;6QB/LB Ian Teague,fr.;7WR/ DB Kason Rohrbach,fr.;8 WR/DB DevenGreen,jr.;9WR/DBBarrett Howe, soph.;10WR/DB/PKIsaac Sanchez, sr.;11WR/LB Kutter Rohrbach, fr.; 14 WR/DE CalebHanks, soph.;16WR/DBGardnerShivers, soph.; 17 WR/DBAidenBryant,fr.; 20RB/LB EvanGaray,sr.; 33 WR/ LBRaijounShivers,fr.;34RB/DB Emmanuel Chavez,soph.;44RB/DB OscarRivera-Espinoza,sr.; 45FB/ DLRyanBrown,fr.; 50 C/DT Ross Dubois; 53 OL/DE Gavin Williams, fr.;56OL/DBSebastian Vega,sr.; 58 OL/LB PaytonSprouse, sr.; 60OL/ DL DakotaGilbert, soph.;64OL/ DLDustin Vess,sr.;65OL/DLJesus Espinoza,jr.; 70 OL/DLMJRubio, jr.;71OL/DL JashawnJones,soph.; 76 OL/DL Cedric Hudgen,sr.;77OL/ DL CullenSablatura,sr.; 78 OL/DL AlejandroEspinosa,sr.;79OL/DL

Andrew Vasquez, soph.; 87 TE/DL CadenEspinosa,jr.;88WR/DE VictorOrozco

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 H39 CASSIE STRICKER THE EAGLE VerKobe Woodberryis a playmaker forSomerville’soffense and returns forhissenior season.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 atHull-Daisetta(DNP)

7 p.m.

Sept.3 at Anderson-Shiro(7-34)

7 p.m.

Sept.10 Leon(29-30)

7 p.m.

Sept. 17 AlphaOmega Academy (DNP)7 p.m.

Sept. 24 *atMilano(62-0)

7 p.m.

Oct. 1 *#Iola (36-42)

7 p.m.

Oct. 8 *atBurton(14-30)

7 p.m.

Oct. 15 *Snook(7-30)

7 p.m.

Oct. 22 open

Oct. 29 *at Bartlett(34-12)

7 p.m.

Nov. 5*Granger(17-20)

7 p.m.

*District13-2ADivisionII;#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— CalNeatherlin (4-14 overalland at Somerville)

Assistant coaches— Steve Puckett, Ethan Watson, Chris Martin, Josh Vela,Noah Leist

District— 13-2ADivisionII

2020 record— 2-6(2-4,5th)

Returninglettermen— 25(7 offensivestarters,7defensive starters)

Key returners— WR/DB VerKobe Woodberry, sr.(A-Dboth ways); S/QBJohnny Legg,sr.(ADat S, 2ndatQB); DL CedricHudgen,sr. (2nd A-D);OL/DL Jesus Espinoza, jr. (HM A-D);OL/DLAlejandro Espinoza,sr.(HM A-D); WR/CB Herschel Conway,soph. (HM A-D); LB OscarRivera-Espinoza,sr.(HM A-D)

Keylosses— RBJeremiah Teague (Co-13-2AOff MVP);OLRileyEldridge(A-D);PKSaid Reyna(2nd A-D); LB JesusGomez(2nd A-D); FB/DLJayden Vilanova (HM A-D)

All-time record— 321-536-24

Playoff appearances/record 9(4-9)

Playoff appearances— (9) 1939, 1960, 1965, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1990,2006, 2017

FromH39

with a42-36 loss at Iola.

“Wehad some badbounces, but ourkids competedandthey battledthe wholetime,” Neatherlin said.“Evenin previous years when I watchedﬁlmofthem,they were givingup rather quickly, butnow they feel conﬁdentin what we’re doing.Theybelieve in what we’re doingandthe system they’ve had more experiencein. Evenafter we had threeheartbreaking lossesin a row,Isaid,‘Hey,let’sjustkeepputtingourselvesoutthere,’ andthey battled.”

Somerville’sonlylopsidedlosses were to Class3Aplayoff teams Anderson-Shiro 34-7andDistrict 13-2ADivisionIIchampionSnook 30-7. Both were onthe road.

“Weworkedharder,andwewere more prepared,” Somerville seniorwide receiver/defensive back VerKobe Woodberry said.“Come

gametime[this year], we’ll beable to ﬁnish games.” Woodberry,whohasbeentimed at 4.5 secondsinthe40-yarddash, had34 receptionslast year for562 yardsandsix touchdowns. He added91 yardsrushingoneight carries.

“Ithinkhe’sthebest receiverin theleague, the most explosive,” Neatherlin said.

Somervillelostrunning back Jeremiah Teague,who wasthe district’s co-most valuableplayer alongwithall-districtlineman RileyEldridge.The Yeguas won’t abandontherun, butthey could rely moreonthe pass.

“Wehada goodoffseason,” Neatherlin said. “We’ve hada really good, strongstrengthand conditioningoffseason,and we’ve also played 7-on-7 whereourkids arestayingactiveandbeinga part of it.”

The 7-on-7 experience wasinvaluableas Somervilleplayedin aleaguewithAnderson-Shiro,

Bryan, HearneandRudder.

“We werereal competitive and wonseveralgames,sowefeelreally good about ourskills,” Neatherlin said “Rightnow, it’llbehard for people to matchupwithourskill guys, andwithourquarterback’s accuracy, Ithink we’llbe able to makea lotofplays.”

SeniorquarterbackJohnnyLegg, athree-yearstarter,isadualthreat whomissedthelasthalfofhis sophomore seasonafterbreaking hiswrist.Leggisfully recovered and said teamchemistry hasbeen the key to theprogram’s growth.

“We just need to keepbonding together,” he said.“We can’tlet theemotions getthebestofusand throw us outof games.”

Multiplelinemen returnled by senior CedricHudgen, a secondteamall-district pickondefense.

“He’s justabulldozer,”Neatherlin said, adding thatthe Yeguas have gooddepthinthetrenches.

Somervillehas alltheingredients to make theplayoffs foronly

the secondtimein 15 yearsifit can performunderpressureinthebig games.

“Thebig thingwillbe to execute when we need to,” Neatherlin said. “In twoof[last year’s]losses, we hadfumblesatthe 1-yardline... justcrazy things. We’ve got to be able to overcomethe mistakesand ﬁnallypushthrough,andthenonce we dothat,Ithinkit’llbelikea waterfall.”

Neatherlininheritedmostlyunderclassmen.

“Mostofthem have beenwith me two yearsnow,” he said.“They are gettingstronger, biggerand faster.So we should expect to be better.”

NOTES Dave Campbell’s Texas Football picks Somerville to make the playoffsas the fourthplace teamin 13-2A-IIbehind Snook,GrangerandBurton.... Somervillelast wonmorethan two gamesin2011, going4-6 that season. The Yeguasare1177 since.

H40 AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

SomervillequarterbackJohnny Legg willman theposition forthethird straight year for the Yeguas. CASSIE STRICKER THE EAGLE Somervillesenior Julian Frayrereturnsto playtightendandlinebacker for the Yeguasthisseason. Somerville

New coach, same speed in Calvert

Trojans moving to more spread formations in 2021

ALEX MILLER alex.miller@theeagle.com

Amixofnewandoldwilldeﬁne this year’s Calvert Trojans football team.

The Trojansheadintothe season withanew coachonshortnotice after Ja’MarcusAshley tooka job asanassistantatBryanthissummer. Calvert recentlyhired Jordan Weikertasitsnewhead football coach,andhewill gethelpfrom Trojans basketball coach Michael Thomasthis fall.

“He’s gettinginwithit,andhe’s learningtheculture,”Thomas said of Weikert.“The receptionis good because we makesureit’s good. I backhimupon everything he’s doing.He’s gotagrowthmindset.”

Consistencyisimportant for a smoothtransitionthatoccurred late in theoffseason,Thomas said.

“CoachAshleydidagreat job withthem,andheleft[theprogram]ina goodposition where thekidsalready know theskills,” Thomas said.“Theyalready know the gameplans.Theyknowhow to approachthe game. CoachAshley didagreat jobleavingitthe wayhe leftit. Wishit wasn’t so late, but thekids were able to bounce back, andthey’ve beenthroughalotof adversity,so thekids’mindsetwill be good.”

Sophomorequarterback Kevondre Corona saidthe coaching changehasn’tbeenashardonthe players since manyofthemhave close relationshipsfromgrowing up together. He addedthe team knowsThomas wellasa coachand believesinhim.

“A lotofus, we’vebeenplayingwith eachothersince Pee Wee and we’vebeenthroughups-anddownswith eachother,” Corona said.“Wegrewupwith eachother, so we’vebeenstickingwith each otherour wholelives, and we’re ready to face whatever we have this season.”

Duringthe Trojans’ scrim-

ROSTER

1QB/C/MLBAntonioPorter, 5-9, 175, jr.;2SE/FSGioDiaz, 5-6, 140, jr.; 5WR/FS MJThomas, 6-7, 205,jr.;8RB/QB/DE Kevondre Corona, 5-10, 145, soph.;21RB/QB/DE DavarianHurst, 5-7, 150,soph.;22SB/DB Cohan Thompson, 5-9, 155,jr.; 45 C/QB/MLBJa’CariusSchells, 5-8, 225,soph.;99 C/RB/NG DavionAllen, 6-0, 235, jr.

mages, Thomas said Weikerthas beenshadowinghimbutaddedhe hopes Weikertwill take full reign ofplay-calling by districtplay.The twoalsohave talkedwithother prominent6-man coaches to get mentorship.

“He’sbeenmorethanwilling to learnthe6-man game,” Thomas said.“He’snot cominginand saying he knowsitall. He’s more like, ‘How canI getbetter?’That’s the motto we’vebeenshowingwith thekidsis‘1%better’andit gets done.”

Ontheﬁeld,Calvertloses ﬁve seniorsfromlast year’s team,and the Trojansdidn’taddanyfreshmen to this year’s squad.

“I would saythestrengthis not going to beinournumbers,” Thomas said.“It’s going to bein our talentandour execution. We

have alotspeedasalways, and that’s going to beourstrength. We’re going to go more to aspread styleandtry to use ourspeed to continuebeingtheCalvert Trojans.”

The Trojanshave asmall roster despiteafteradding two basketball players,includingThomas’sonMJ, whowillplay receiverat6-foot-7. Thomas saidtimemanagement andthe fourthquarterwillbepivotal to the Trojans’ success with players having fewchances to take abreather.

“Weonlyhave one sub,”Thomas said.“It’s kindoflike TexasA&M’s 12thMan,but we’ve gotthe‘7th Man.’”

Offensively, Thomas saidthe Trojanswillbeditchingmanyof theirold schemes.

“We won’tdo so muchtight

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 28 %JCSALions (DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Sept.4Emery/Weiner(DNP) 6:30 p.m.

Sept.10at Bastrop Tribe (32-28)6:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 atNueces Canyon 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 Bye

Oct. 1at Coolidge(53-7) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 8#Penelope(DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 15atAbbott(DNP) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 *at Chester(51-6)7 p.m.

Oct. 29 *atAppleSprings(DNP)

7 p.m.

Nov. 5*Oakwood(won by forfeit)

7 p.m.

%-atAllen Academy; #Homecoming;*13-A DivisionII games

FACTS

Head coach— Jordan Weikert (ﬁrst year)

Assistant Coach— Michael Thomas

Student assistant— Raymond Ramirez Jr.

District— 13-A DivisionII

formationsbecause we’renotas big,” Thomas said.“We’ve got to usethatspeed. We’ve got to use a coupleofguys’ skill work as faras catchingthe ballandrunningthe ball.We onlyhave one kid who ran the balllast year, so now we’ve got to get somemore scorers because that’s theobjectof the game.”

Corona wasthe centerpieceof last year’s team, accounting for 35 total touchdowns(18rushing, 17 passing)and earningClassADivisionIIfreshmanofthe yearand District 13-A-IIoffensive playerof the yearhonors. Thomas saidthe Trojanswilllook to addnew ball carriersand expectsno teamin theirdistrictwillbeable to match theirspeed.

Ondefense,Calvertbrings back junior Da’VionAllen, whohad seven sacksandsix forcedfumbles in 2020.

Despite the coachingchange and asmall squad,Corona saidCalvert hashighaspirations this fall.

“Wehave a big goalthis year,” Corona said.“We’retrying to really makeit to state,andhopefully we doit.”

2020 record 9-3(2-01st) 2020playoffs— bi-district:Dime Box,52-0; regionals: Cherokee, 69-44; quarterﬁnals: Richland Springs, 34-48

Returning lettermen— 6 (2offensive, 2defensivestarters)

Key returners— QB/RB/DE Kevondre Corona,soph.(13-AOff. MVP, A-D at DE);C Antonio Porter, jr.(A-D);OG KeighenGreen,soph. (A-D);DL Da’VionAllen,jr. (A-D); CB Cohan Thompson,jr. (A-D); LB DavarianHurst,soph. (2nd A-D)

Keylosses— Tre’Quitnton Green (Co-13-A MVP); LB/RB Davien Flentroy (13-A Def. MVP, A-Dat RB);QB/DEErwinJones(A-Dboth ways);U/CBBillyThompson Jr. (A-Dboth ways)

All-time record 586-379-34

Playoff appearances/record 34(3-12-2 in 11man;34-20in 6-man)

Playoff appearances(34) — 11-man: 1923, 1938, 1946-47, 1949, 1952, 1958, 1967-68, 1970, 1989-91, 1994; 6-man: 1998-99, 2001-11,2013-20

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021

H41

MICHAEL MILLER, THE EAGLE Sophomore quarterback Kevondre Corona returns for Calvertafterabreakout freshman season.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 27 Hallettsville Sacred Heart (DNP) 7 p.m.

Sept.3HolyCross(DNP)7 p.m.

Sept.10 Austin Savio (DNP) 7 p.m.

Sept. 17 #Central Texas Christian (24-28)7 p.m.

Sept. 24 LutheranHighNorth (DNP) 7 p.m.

Oct. 1at TomballHomeschool (32-20) 7 p.m.

Oct. 8 open

Oct. 15*at Rosehill(21-31) 7 p.m.

Oct. 22*Cypress Chrisitian (12-21)7 p.m.

Oct. 29 *at Legacy Prep (won by forfeit)7 p.m.

Nov. 5*Northland Christian (54-6)7 p.m.

*TAPPSDivisionIVDistrict 4 games; #Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— BenHoffmeier (16-15 overall,16-15atBrazos Christian)

Assistant coaches— Gerald Hancock,Noah Leist,Ryan Rey, ColtonMachu, ReedAicholz,Matt Alvarado,EricAlvarez, WillLangenbahn, AdamLaStrapes

District— TAPPSDivisionIV District4

2020 record— 5-5 (1-2)

2020 playoffs— area: Shiner, 10-35

Playoff appearances— 19

Returninglettermen— 20 (9offensive, 9 defensivestarters)

Key returners— OLGre Young, jr. (A-D);QB/DL LeviHancock,sr (A-Dboth ways);RB/LBHarris Powers, sr. (A-Dboth ways);WR RyanBurtin,jr.(A-D);DLJohnny Luevano,sr.(A-D); LB StrykerGay, sr.(A-D)

Keylosses— DBIsaacWhite (A-D)

All-time record— 159-93

Playoff record — 15-18 (14-16in11-man; 1-2 in 6-man)

Playoff appearances(19) — 6-man:2000-01; 11-man:200203, 2005-06, 2008-20

Hancock, Brazos Christian primed for big year in 2021

ALEX MILLER alex.miller@theeagle.com

LeviHancock saidhe’salways hadonedream:playing college footballat TexasA&M.

TheBrazos Christian senior will get to fulﬁllthatdreamafter this seasonafter committing to the Aggiesasapreferred walk-on earlierthissummer, buthe’llbe playingauniqueposition forthe maroonand white—longsnapper.

Perfectingthecraftofaniche position wasthebest way forHancock to makehisdream cometrue.

“Honestly, Istartedabout my eighthgrade year, andI realized thatprobably my bestchanceat playingDivisionI football was longsnapping, so Istarted really workingatit my freshman yearof high school,” Hancock said.

Before enrollingatBrazos Christian asa sophomore,Hancock washomeschooledand played for BVCHEA Whileplaying fortheMustangs, he was coached byformerA&Mlong snapper Austin Frey,whohelped introduce Hancock to theposition. Hancock said hebegan learningit by snapping to his brotherand father inthe yard.

Longsnappingbecame even more serious forHancock whenhe went to the Kohl’s KickingCamp in Dallas. Afterattendingthe ﬁrsttime,Hancock saidheknew things could work outifhe kept practicing.Hancockiscurrently the fourth-rankedlongsnapper inthe country,according to Kohl’s.

“It reallybuiltalotof conﬁdencethatI coulddothis,” Hancock said.“The Kohl’s camps were extremelyhelpful,andI wouldn’t beherewithoutthem.”

Thissummer, Hancock saidhe attended a snapping campatA&M and wasoffereda recruitingvisit afterwards. Onthevisit,Hancock saidhe wasofferedthepreferred walk-onspotanddidn’thaveto

ROSTER

1DB/WRHarrisPowers, 5-11, 195, sr.;2 WR/DB Chance Locker, 5-8, 160, soph.;3WR/DBBeckettGoodyk, 5-10,165, sr.; 4 WR/DB RyanBurtin, 5-8, 160,jr.;5QB/DL Levi Hancock, 6-2, 230, sr.;8 WR/DB Hayden Tillery, 6-2, 180,sr.; 9 PK/PAshton Hendrick, 5-7, 140, sr.;11WR/LB Stryker Gay, 5-9, 175, sr.;12WR/DBJackson Caffey, 5-8, 150,fr.;13TE/LB Davis Carroll, 6-1, 190, sr.; 17 DB/WR ColeSkinner, 5-7, 135, fr.;22TE/LBBrodyGarner, 6-1, 185,fr.;30WR/DB TruettGoodyk, 5-9, 135, fr.;31RB/PK CollinThornton, 6-0, 165,jr.; 32 RB/LBJake Shaddox, 5-9, 145, fr.; 33 WR/DB TylerPrince, 6-1, 165,jr.; 50OL/DL Ben Tillery, 5-11, 245, fr.;51OL/DL BraydenMineo, 6-0, 190, fr.;52OL/LBGreg Young, 5-9, 200, jr.; 53 OL/DL Christian Funderburk, 6-1,205,sr.;55,OL/LB WillSharpe,5-9, 190, sr.; 62OL/DL Weston Fowler, 6-2, 220, sr.; 63 OL/DL Preston Conley, 5-9, 205,sr.; 64 OL/LB Caleb Sebesta, 5-9, 170,fr.;68OL/DL Camp Wright, 5-10,200, sr.;71OL/DL CarsonBrowne, 5-9, 195, soph.;75OL/DL CaidenSandel, 5-8, 210,fr.;80WR/ DB IsaiahPerkins, 5-4,115, fr.;88TE/DL ParkerSpears, 6-0, 200,soph.

think twiceabout committing to the Aggies.

“There’snotalotofkids whoat an early age would take to it,butit shows youhowlaser-focusedLevi isthathedoesalotofindividual work, goes to the Kohl’s camps andhasbeen workingathiscraft, anditallendsupthathe’soneof thebestinthenationandhe gets to go to his dream school,” Brazos Christianhead coach Ben Hoffmeier said.

Hancockismorethanalong snapperatBrazos Christian,however,servingastheEagles’starting quarterbackanddefensive end.

“Thebottomlineis youoften ﬁnd yourself saying:IsthereanythingLevi can’tdo?” Hoffmeier said.“He’s agreatrunner. He’s a guythat’s230poundsandruns a 4.6 40 He’s gota rocketarm. We wonthestate tournament for 7-on-7 atthe TAPPSlevelthis year.So he can reallydoitwithhis

armandhislegs. He’s anincrediblyhumbleleader, andourkids love and respecthim As aquarterback,hemakesouroffense go, buton topofthat,he’s happens to beourbestdefensive lineman, too, andalsooneofthebestlong snappers inthenation.”

Asthe seasonapproaches,Hancock saidtheEagleshave high expectationsofwinningastate championship.He addedmaturity ispivotal forthe teamthat return 18of22startersfromlast season.

“Inthe past two yearsinthe playoffs, we’velost some really close games,” Hancock said,“so Ithinkwithourmaturitylevel, ourmottothis yearis‘ﬁnishing strong,’ andIthinkmaturity reallyhelpswiththat.”

TheEagleshopelineplaywill beastrengthonbothsidesofthe ballaftertheydealtwithinexperienceinthose areasduringthe early partoflast season. Seniors Camp Wrightand Weston Fowler andjuniorGreg Youngleadamore cohesive groupinthetrenches, Hoffmeier said.

Onoffense,theEagleswilllook to getthe ballinthe hands of receivers RyanBurtin andHayden Tillery. Defensively, linebacker looks to bethestrongestposition asBrazos Christian returnsstartersStrykerGray, thedistrict’s reigningdefensive playerofthe year, andHarris Powers,who tallied 101 tackles last season.

“Ithink we’vejustbeen really hungry asa team, asagroup, to get back to thatpointandﬁnish strong,” Hoffmeier said.“I likeour veteran group. Obviously, it startswithhaving a stud atquarterback, andhe’s agreat leader. Our kidswill follow him anywhere. We’ve gota couple of really good receivers coming back. Ourlineisourmost maturegroup we’ve everhad. We reallylike this group we have coming back.”

AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

H42

MICHAEL MILLER, THE EAGLE Brazos Christiansenior quarterback Levi Hancock,right, isbacktoleadthe Eagles’offense this season.

Newcomers part of Rams’ path to success in 2021

QB Lucas, seniors

Meadows, Lee back to lead Allen Academy

ABIGAIL OCHOA

abigail.ochoa@theeagle.com

Allen Academy’smotto“Chapter’21”will serveasaguidinglight in whattheRamshope to beasuccessful season.

TheRamslike to pickamotto each seasonwiththeirmost recent beingthe“Revenge Tour”last year asthey reachedthe TAPPS6-man DivisionIIstatechampionship gameafter fallingjustshortofit in2019.

Butthis yearwithplentyof youngstartersonthe team,Allen Academyislooking to thefuture.

“We’regoing to writeour own chapterthis year,” head coach Adrian Adams said.“Soit’sup to them to makeit whatthey want to It’s the sametradition, sameprogram. We’vejust gotadifferent castofcharacters getting ready to stepupintothespotlight.”

Luckily fortheRams, thenew castmembers will have plentyof veterans to learnfrom.Seniorwide receiveranddefensivelineman LukeMeadows,seniorreceiverJihu Leeand sophomorequarterback EthanLucasall return to the team with valuable experience, along with aslew of juniorsinAidan Field,Jackson Petty, Luke Miller, RyanLaselland Kyle Dupont.

Meadows andLeehave themost experienceenteringtheseasonand hope to ﬁlltheleadership rolesleft by all-statestartersAaron Boegner,EliasChapa,Brent Tuckerand RyanHassell.

“MeandJihu always had those upperclassmen to leanon,but now we arethose guys,” Meadows said.“Our experienceis going to behuge,especially foragroupthat hasn’t gottenmuch experience.”

ROSTER

1WR/DB Luke Zumwalt, 5-10,115,fr.;2WR/DBDominicLampo, 5-10,160, sr.;3QB/DB Ethan Lucas, 5-10,165, soph.;6WR/RB/QB/DB KyleDuPont, 5-9, 165,jr.;8RB/DBJackson Reece,5-11, 155, fr.;10WR/FS/PK Jihu Lee, 6-2,180,sr.;12HB/DL Luke Meadows, 6-1, 190, sr.;13 C/DLJacksonPetty, 6-1,205, jr.; 14 RB/DB/MLBAidan Field, 6-22, 170,jr.; 21 C/HB/DLEli Dawson, 6-4, 190, soph.;22WR/FSRusty Ly-McMurry, 5-9, 145, fr.; 23 RB/MLB Ohkyo Kwon 5-11,75,sr.; 24 WR/FSDominicNuscis, 5-8, 140, jr.; 25 HB/ DL Luke Miller, 6-1,180,jr.; 33 TE/DLRandySavell, 6-0, 230, sr.;44HB/DL RyanLasell, 5-11,180,jr.

The remaining returnershave noshortageof talent,butwitha core ofstarters gone,theRams willbelooking for severalplayers to handlelarger workloads.

“If yougraduatea fewallstaters, you got to ﬁll someholes,” Adams said.

Fillingthose holesshouldn’tbe toodifficult.

Pettywillspend sometimeat quarterback,and Fieldwill take

overatmiddlelinebackerand running backafterstudyingunder Tuckerthe past two years. Miller andLasell jointheoffensive line aftertrainingunder Meadows and Hassell.

Meadows saidit’s easy forthe youngsters to feelpressure,especiallyafter watchingtheir teammatesleadtheRams to statewith a 7-4 record last season following astate semiﬁnalrunin2019. But

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 26 BVCHEA 7:30 p.m.

Sept.3o pen

Sept.9at St.Joseph(44-48) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 at Aquilla 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 *Giddings Lone Star (DNP) 7 p.m.

Oct. 1*#Logos Prep Academy (DNP) 7 p.m.

the veteran saidhe’snot worried aboutthe talent comingup.

“Aidan Fieldsteppingupat running backin replaceofBrent [Tucker],he’s everybitasathletic asBrentis,” Meadows said.“He’s gottenalotbigger, strongerand faster overthisoffseason.Lee,he wasastarter foruslast yearand had some big games, especially when Aaron[Boegner] wasnot playing. He’s abig,strong,physical receiver. Physically, thisgroup shouldbeable to take controlofa lotof teams.”

OnepositionAllen Academy can ﬁndstabilityinisatquarterback withLucas He’s returningafter exchangingsnapswith Tuckerand being key to theRams’ secondhalf comebackatstateduringhis inaugural season.

“Tohave Ethan back,Imean that sets the tempo foroffense,” Adams said.

Adams saidthebiggesthurdle forthe young teamis converting whatthey’ve learnedinpracticein past seasonsintosuccess on Friday nights.

“If you’re on the scout teamand you’regoingagainst [ourstarters], you’re bound to getbetter,because otherpeoplearen’tpracticing againstthose typesofguys,” Adams said.“Youknowthey’re gettingitthreedays a weekinpractice,andtheyjustdidn’t getiton Fridaynightsagainst somebody else, so they’re really ahead. They justneedthattimeontheﬁeld to learnatthemoment.”

TheRamswill competeunder newlightsonnewturfatBaker Field, whichunderwent renovationsthissummer Thewillhost BVCHEA,GiddingsState,Logos Prep Academy, Katy Faith West, Emery/Weinerand Tyler King’s Academythis seasonwith road gamesatSt. Joseph, Aquila, Faith West Academy, O’Connelland CovenantChristian.

Oct. 8*Katy Faith West(DNP) 7 p.m.

Oct. 16*Emery/Weiner (60-622 OTs)6 p.m.

Oct. 22 Tyler King’s Academy (DNPO)7 p.m.

Oct. 29 *atGalveston O’Connell (64-12)7 p.m.

Nov. 5 *at Covenant Christian (DNP) 7 p.m. *TAPPSD1/DIIDistrict6 games; #Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— Adrian Adams (93-41 overall, 24-7 atAllen)

Assistant coaches— defensive coordinatorAlexSimpson, special teams coordinatorNick Stromyer, SethThomas,MichaelBryan District— TAPPSD1/DIIDistrict6

2020 record— 6-1(3-0, 1st)

2020 playoffs— area: Cornerstone Christian Academy, 64-14; semiﬁnals: Faith Academy of Marble Falls,54-22; ﬁnals:LakehillPrepSchool,34-42

Playoff appearances— 24

Returninglettermen— 11 (3offensive, 3defensivestarters)

Key returners— WR Jihu Lee, sr. (A-D);TE/DL Luke Meadows,sr (A-DatTE,2ndatDL);QB Ethan Lucas,soph.(2nd A-D);DB Kyle DuPont, jr.(2nd A-D)

Keylosses— WRAaronBoegner (A-D); C/DLRyanHassell(A-D both ways);WB/LBBrent Tucker (A-Dboth ways);DBElias Chapa (A-D)

Playoff appearances(24) — 11-man: 1974-75, 1979-80, 1998, 2004; 6-man: 1990-91, 1993-97, 2008-15, 2018-20

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 H43

EAGLE FILEPHOTO Senior Luke Meadows, centerright, is back to helpleadtheAllen Academy Ramsthisseason.

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 28 vs. Conroe Covenant (DNP)TBA

Sept.3 Waco Methodist (DNP)7 p.m

Sept.9Allen Academy

(48-44) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 at Westbury Christian (DNP) 7 p.m.

Sept. 24 atSummit Christian (37-64) 7 p.m.

Oct. 1 Lonestar Southeast (DNP) 7 p.m.

Oct. 8 PasadenaBaptist (DNP) 7 p.m.

Oct. 15 *at Brazosport Christian (55-6)7 p.m.

Oct. 22 open

Oct. 29*Grace Christian (DNP)TBA

Nov. 5*Baytown Christian (47-0)7 p.m.

* TAPPS 6-manDivisionIIIDistrict

5 games

FACTS

Head coach— Alec Castilleja

(20-20 overall & at St. Joe)

Assistant coaches— Marcjavion

McGrew, Cameron Cooper,Nathan

Jones, Luke Prichard, Christian

Serna

District— TAPPS 6-manDivision

IIIDistrict5

2020 record— 6-1(3-0, 1st)

2020 playoffs— area: Bulverde LivingRock(forfeit); regionals: Cedar ParkSummit, 37-64

Returninglettermen— 3

(2offensive, 1defensivestarters)

Key returners— OLGabe Stratta, sr.(A-D);TE/DL Reid Millhollon, sr.(A-D);DLGraysonGlass,sr.

(2nd A-D);DBJackson Carey, soph.(2nd A-D)

Keylosses— C Evan Lawrence (A-D);QB/DB/P Trace Brightwell (A-D); RB/LB TwisterBarrington (A-D); LB Evan Lawrence(A-D); DB JustinKristynik(A-D); PK/WR

GageLipscomb (A-DatPK,2ndat WR);OLJackGrunkemeyer (2nd A-D);RB/LBJakeDrabek (2nd A-D);TEJoe Tyler Saladiner(2nd A-D)

All-time record— 118-127

Playoff record— 5-14 (2-8 in11man; 3-6 in 6-man)

Playoff appearances(15)

6-man: 1999-2001;11-man:200611,2013-14, 2018-20

Pair of newcomers bring senior talent to St. Joseph

Eagle basketball standouts Rice, Schumann ready to help on gridiron

TRAVIS L. BROWN travis.brown@theeagle.com

Returning fewstartersfromlast season,St.Josephhead coachAlec Castillejaneeded to pillage whateverathletic talenthis schoolhad tooffer.

SowhenEaglerunning back and safetyJacksonCarey ﬁrst saw newcomersLeviRiceandLuke Schumannpractice, he wondered whythe pairof basketballstandoutshadn’tplayed footballtheir ﬁrstthree yearsofhigh school.

“It’s really good,” Carey saidof havingRiceand Schumannonthe team.“We’ve beentrying to get them for several yearsnow, but ﬁnallytheyare wanting to play.”

Riceand Schumann represent twoof ﬁve seniorsonaunderclassman-heavy squadtheEagles bring to thegridironthis fall.

ForCastilleja,theunknown can beastrength.

“Noone reallyknows what’s coming,”he said.“Inthelastthree or four years, youkindofknew what was coming. Youknew what we had. You couldbrace yourself forit.This year, we’rekindofthat questionmark. We’re going to comein,and [opponentswill]be like,‘Whatarethey going to be strongin?’”

Amongthe11 seniorslostfrom last seasonareAll-Brazos Valleyhonoreesquarterback Trace Brightwellandrunning back TwisterBarrington.Brightwell passed for 941 yardsand20 touchdowns,whilerushing for386 yards and ﬁve touchdowns. Ondefense he recorded 27 tacklesand ﬁveinterceptions Barringtonrushed for

ROSTER

3Marc Mishler,soph.;4 Jackson Carey; 6NoahUmanzor,fr.; 8 Liam Killbride, jr;10 Reid Millhollon,sr.;11 Luke Schumann,sr.;12 Charlie Weise, fr.;15 LeviRice, sr.;16Ben Curtis,soph.; 18 Bryant Hutka,soph.;20 Lucas Ramirez, fr.; 22Peter Najvar,fr.; 23 VictorPerez,soph.; 24 Gabe Stratta, sr.; 25Grayson Glass,sr.;32 Luke Johnson,jr.;34 Paul Johnson,fr. 35 Walker West,fr.

605 yardsandnine touchdowns and collected28 tacklesand two sacksondefense.

Onepieceis certain,theEagles’ returning two-waystarter Reid Millhollon.Thewide receiverand defensive lineman earnedall-state honorsasajuniorlast year,helping theEaglesposta6-1 record overall and3-0in TAPPS6-manDistrict III-5playastheyadvanced to the regionalquarterﬁnals.

Millhollonwilltransition to quarterbackthis season.

“He’sdeﬁnitely going to bethe centerpiece forour team,” Castilleja said.

Alongside Millhollon, theEagle leadership corpsincludes centeranddefensivelinemanGabe StrattaandCarey. It’s anew task forStratta,who saidheisprepared

for it.

“It’s a differentkindof feeling whenever you’re a teamleaderand notjustasmallerplayeronthe teamanymore,” Stratta said.

Whilethis year’s squadisunproven compared to thesuccessful teamsofthelast several seasons, Castillejaknows hehas the foundationsoftheprogram ﬁrmlyinplaceanddepth to ﬁll voids. About90%ofSt. Joseph’s athletesaretri-sport participants with someplayingon evenmore teamsthanthat,he said.Getting kidsinterestedinplaying football hasbecomean easier sell recently.

“Weknow we’vebeensuccessful,” Castilleja said.“We’ve seen success. Let’s just keep goingand take onestepatatime. We don’t haveto take bigleaps, because we

know whatit’s going to take to besuccessful.If we keepmoving forward, we’re going to keep seeingsuccess If we step backwards, we’re going to stopthegrowth.”

Bringing SchumannandRice intothe football foldmayprove key this season.Rice wasanAllBrazos Valley selectionin basketball, averaging 15 pointsand11.7 reboundsper game fortheEagles.

“Now that everyone’sonboard, seeingtheprogrambeingsuccessfuland seeingthe goodthingsthat are comingoutofthe footballprogram—notjustthewinsandthe ability to play, butthegrowthas aperson—thatis what we really push for,” Castilleja said.

Therealsell,however,camefrom Millhollon,wholaiddown anultimatumaccording to Stratta:Play footballorthequarterback would forgohisﬁnal basketball season.

“Ithinkit wasourquarterback justsmooth talkingthem—orhe threatenedthematleast,” Stratta saidwithalaugh.“Ithinkhe just saidhe wasn’t going to play basketball.Ithinkthatﬁnally swoonedthem over.”

H44

TheEagle

AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL

FOOTBALL2021

MICHAEL MILLER, THE EAGLE The St.JosephEagles went 3-0indistrictplayand 6-1 overalllastseason.

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 H45 Injured duringFridaynight’s game? Comeseeus onSaturday morning. At Central TexasSportsMedicine &Orthopaedics, we provide student athleteswiththecaretheyneed,when theyneedit.That’swhy weoffer aclinicon Saturdaymorningswithfree evaluations for concussionsandinjuries forstudentathletes. Noappointmentneeded—justarrive between8:30a.m.and10:00a.m.Ourclinicis locatedat3121UniversityDriveinBryan, nexttoThePhysicians CentreHospital. Note:Ifbracing,casting,oradditional servicesareneeded, we willbill yourstudent insurance. Pleasebring yourstudentaccident formandstudentinsurancecardwith you. 3121UniversityDr.E.,Suite100,Bryan,TX •(979)776-0169 •centexsportsmedicine.com

SCHEDULE

(Last year’s resultinparentheses)

Aug. 26 atAllen Academy

7:30 p.m.

Sept.3 at Victoria Cobras (34-67) 7:30 p.m.

Sept.10vs. Tribe Warriors (0-46) 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 vs. #NorthsideLions

7:30 p.m.

Sept.25at Katy HCYA Chargers

11 a.m.

Oct. 1 atBuckholts 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 8atBellville Faith 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 15vs. Stephenville Faith (42-70) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 22at Austin Royals (13-58) 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 29at Wilco Falcons (33-70) 7:30 p.m.

#Homecoming

FACTS

Head coach— Howard Tipton (ﬁrst year)

Assistant coaches— JayDooley, Michael Jackson,Sherman Zimmerman,Josh Tiptonand Cody Davis.

District— TAIAODivisionI-South

2020 record— 2-8 (0-7)

2020 playoffs— SanAntonio FEAST, 45-54.

Returningstarters

5onoffense,3 on defense

Keylosses— WR/LB/DBRaymond Kitts; OL/DL Bubba Stokely

All-time record— 79-94

ROSTER

Owen Davis,sr.; ColeSamford,sr.; David Levy,sr.; AlexanderBlair, jr. Chance Chesson, jr.; Caleb Kocmoud,jr.; Daniel Cochran,soph.; Caden Dooley, soph.;Pierce Goodwin,soph.;SethJackson, soph.;WyattNeisemier, soph.; JakePote,soph;Jericho Tipton, soph.; Caleb Cochran,fr.;Jacob Evans, fr.;Grant Levy,fr.; Nicholas Rockhill,fr.

H46

Mustangs hoping for healthy run through 2021

Davis, Samford, Pote among BVCHEA’s returning leaders

ROBERT CESSNA robert.cessna@theeagle.com

OneopponenttheBrazos Valley Christian HomeEducators football teamhasn’tbeenable to beat in recent seasonsisinjuries.

“Forthelast two years,honestly, we’vebeenplaguedwithinjuries to key,key players whohave been out fora good partofthe season,” head coach Howard Tipton said. “When you get two key players out in6-man football,there’sathird of youroffenseordefense.”

Unfortunately, most ofthe Mustangs’injurieshappened early inthe season. BVCHEA overcame them two yearsago to reachthe TAIAOstatetitle gamedespite winningonly two regular season games. Last year, theMustangs endedthe seasononasix-game losingstreakwiththeclosest game theﬁnale,a54-45 setback to San AntonioFEAST HomeSchoolin theplayoffs.

Wide receiver/defensive back Seth Jacksonandwide receiver/ linebackerCaden Dooleymissed muchofthe season whileothers suchasquarterback/slotback/ defensive back Owen Davishad to ﬁghtthroughnagginginjuries.

Theinjuriesmeantothers received valuableplayingtimethat could paydividendsthis year.

BVCHEA returns ﬁvestarterson offenseandthreeondefensewith manymorehaving extendedplayingtime.Thefutureisbrightbeyondthis yearwithonlythree seniorsamongthe team’s 16 players.

BVCHEAisled by seniorquarterback/slotback/defensive back Owen Davis.

“Thereisnoquestion,heisthe

anchor fortheoffense,” Tipton said.

Davisdidn’tmissa gamelast year, butthere were fewhe was 100%healthy. He rushed for581 yardson 69 carries(8.4average) with seven touchdowns.He added 465 yards passingon34of81with eight touchdownsand ﬁveinterceptions.

Davisis penciledin to take most ofhissnapsatslotbackthisseason, becausetheMustangshave depth atquarterbackwithjuniorCaleb Kocmoudand sophomore Pierce Goodwin.Goodwinthrew for829 yardswith12 touchdownsand 14 interceptions.Hecompleted66of 135passes,while Kocmoud completed 14 of21 for95 yards.

TheMustangs,who rananAir Raidoffense,willuse variations ofthespreadandtheI-formation.They’re hopeful 160-pound sophomore Wyatt Neisemierwill strengthentherunning game.

“He’s youngandhe’senergetic, so heshouldbeable to helpusout,”

Tipton said.

Senior Cole Samford returnsafter catching12 passes for 153 yards last season,addingninerushes for 47 yards.Kocmoudalsoled the teamin receivingwith 29 receptions for 290 yardsandatrio of scores, and senior DavisLevy added 17 receptions for 145 yards with two scores.Jackson,a sophomore,had 16 receptions for 242 yardsandthree scores.

“We relied realheavilyonour offenselast year,” Tipton said.

Defensively,BVCHEA returns JakePote,wholedthe teamin tackleswith 64 asafreshman. He also causedand recovereda fumble. Fellow sophomore Jericho Tiptonhad18 tackles.Senior PJ Dooleyhad 35 tackles, including 19solos.Davishad40 tackles, and senior JaredLavenderhad 39 tacklesalongwitha team-leading four tackles forloss.

“We’ve gotalot going forus,” Tipton said.“We’re apretty fast team. We don’thave a tonofsize,

butifIthinkit’s going to go well forus—otherthanstayinghealthy —it’s the samestory:Ifthe team shows upthatIknow canshow up, we’llbeﬁne.”

NOTES— Tipton replaced JoshuaRay, who wasthehead coach forthelast two seasons. Ray coachedthejuniorhigh team forthree yearsbeforemovingup to the varsity.Rayenjoyedhistime withthe team, Tipton said,but his job forthe TexasDPSmoved him to the New Braunfelsarea. Tiptonisinhisﬁfth seasonwith theprogram. He isthechildren’s pastoratLiving Hopein College Station. Tipton retiredfromthe Bryanﬁredepartmentin2016.

...

Assistant coach ShermanZimmerman, whohas coached for morethan fourdecadesinthe Houstonand Dallasarea, isin histhird yearwiththeMustangs. Zimmerman, whois battling cancer, gradedfilms forthe Dallas Cowboys for four years.“Theboys feelalotof responsibility toward him,” Tipton said.“He’sprobably oneofthebiggestassets we have.” ... BVCHEA plays its home games atAllen Academy. Tiptonis good friendswithAllenhead coach Adrian Adams.BVCHEAwillopen the seasonagainstAllen Academy. “Myhopeisthat we beat Adrian onhishomefield,” Tipton said. The schoolslastplayedin2019 withAllen Academywinning 5719....BVCHEApracticesat Austin Colony Park. BVCHEAstarted playingin2005asanindependent.TheMustangsplayedtheir firsthome gamesat Hohlt Park inBrenham.Theymoved to the Bryan Regional Athletic Complex in2006. ... BVCHEA went10-1in 2015, winningthe TCAL-Division I6-manstatetitle.TheMustangs moved to TAIAO(TexasAssociationofIndependent AthleticOrganizations)the following season.

AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL2021 TheEagle

EAGLE FILEPHOTO The BVCHEAMustangsstruggledtostayhealthy lastseasonbuthave a rostertalentedand experienced enoughto forgea comebackin2021.

TheEagle AUGUST2021—HIGHSCHOOL

H47

FOOTBALL2021

EAGLE FILE PHOTOS

H48 AUGUST2021—HighSchool Football2021 TheEagle 04377 948 491 6-1 2856 THESELECTIONYOUWANT, THES ERVICEYOUDESERVE! THEP RICESY OUN EED, “ “ Ms axeT node saB**. 020 2s tsig Vl teR

High School Football Preview 2021

FAMILY TIES

A FAMILY AFFAIR

CollegeStation’s Huffs, Rudder’s Ezars balance father-son relationships on,off football ﬁeld

SIDE BY SIDE

IN HIS GENES

playedquarterbackat

ONE LAST RIDE

Vikings ready to build on success

Bryan’s roster small but loaded with varsity experience

SCHEDULE

FACTS

Bryan

Aiming for more

FACTS

ROSTER

College Station schedule

SCHEDULE

FACTS

Consol rolling with Daniel as new QB to leadoffense Thomasreturns to power Tiger defense

ROSTER

Consol

Short-term focus

SCHEDULE

FACTS

Defense stout for Cubs in 2021

Hemphill, Watts, Villatoro lead talented secondary for Brenham

ROSTER

SCHEDULE

FACTS

Rudder

ROSTER

More experienced Mustangs ready for 2021

Burns, Whaley, George among key leaders for Madisonville squad

ROSTER

SCHEDULE

FACTS

Rattlers picking up where they leftoff

Navasota loaded with experience after last year’s playoff run

ROSTER

Caldwell looks to Patterson to duplicate the success he had at Snook

ROSTER

SCHEDULE

FACTS

SCHEDULE

FACTS

Rhoades returns to lead Cameron

Yoemen primed to return to postseason under former coach

ROSTER

We’reatour best when youare.

SCHEDULE

FACTS

QB Mitchell returns to lead Rockdale

Younger Tigers learning from seniors

Aguilar, Scott and solid juniorclass

ROSTER

SCHEDULE

FACTS

Owls eyeing ﬂight path pastbi-district

Strong defense part of Anderson-Shiro’s winning tradition

ROSTER

Lions bent on ﬁnishing state run

Franklin loaded for another shot at school’s ﬁrst title

FACTS

SCHEDULE

ROSTER

Eagles primed for another playoff run

ROSTER

SCHEDULE

FACTS

Tigers more experienced in 2021

Hancock back from injury for Centerville

SCHEDULE

FACTS

SCHEDULE

Leon facts

Leon hopes to keep improving in 2021

Bumpers set to take over at quarterback

ROSTER

Jones gives Pantherscenterpiece playmaker